The Prelude of an Obscure Time
by ChronosAstraeus
Summary: Hermione was disoriented after the war ended. She made the decision to go her own way, after all, now that Harry had defeated Voldemort, she was not needed for him anymore, or that was what she thought, but after her departure Harry Potter thought differently. Eleven years looking for her, she comes back to help him save London again. But, at what cost?
1. Chapter 1 Preface

**Hey Everyone, this is the first story I write about Harry Potter**

 **I've been out of here for many years, I've been back since I now have a lot of free time. Not for very good reasons, but still, I want to occupy my time and I think the best way for me is with this idea that has emerged after seeing a dozen times Harry Potter and Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them.**

 **Harry Potter does not belong to me, I suppose if it belonged to me, I would have made a big change since there are a couple of things that from my perspective were not very good decisions**

 **Even so it was a very good story**

 **Although, a fan can always dream of what could be**

 **.**

 **.**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

 **Chapter 1: Preface**

Everything around him eventually stopped. Time, people, the place, even his own breathing.

Harry James Potter could not believe what had happened.

He just killed Voldemort, the most evil dark wizard so far, he had managed to live after his death. And he felt immense relief and guilt about this ending.

After that, it was hard for him to tell what else was going through his mind, his head was full of overwhelming feelings all at the same time.

But, the remorse

The remorse he felt was huge, it was too much to take; he could not handle it

His penitence grew even more if it was possible, as he returned to the castle, while looking at the deceased bodies of his classmates, their families and friends crying over them so heartbreakingly, made it difficult even the simple action of breathing

Negative thoughts hit him, spitting on him with poison, what he could but didn't do in this war.

He was useless, incompetent, inept, vain, incapable, unusable, and unable to save anyone with his own merits

He had only given the final stroke to end the war

 _Hermione_

She had done everything. She even kept him and Ron alive

Even when she was devastated when Ron accused them of traitors.

She still stayed with him even when Ron gave her an ultimatum.

She helped him even when she cried for days after Ron left

He cursed himself a thousand times while walking aimlessly because of what he had done, because it had not been enough and many people who trusted him had died because of his wrong decisions.

Maybe if he and Ron had not distracted Hermione with all the worry, they would have found the Horcruxes before.

He cursed himself a thousand times while walking aimlessly because of what he had done, because it had not been enough and many people who trusted him had died because of his wrong decisions.

Arriving at the place where the Wesley's were, his mood got darker, the whole family gathered cried over Fred's lifeless body, Mrs. Wesley, Ron and George were the most affected, he closed his eyes tightly as he listened to the screams of Ron and his mother, painfully as they pierced him inside. Then, a pair of arms around him brought him to reality, it was the unmistakable perfume of Ginny, he returned the hug with more need than he wanted to admit, trying to support his sadness about someone right now.

He did not want to suffer even more, he had fought against Voldemort for everyone to live, but… On the contrary, he felt that they had lost the war

Then, remembering something important, he opened his eyes, looking behind Ginny's shoulder, his eyes went to Hermione, who seemed equal or more lost than he was, being embraced by Ron, but she did not seem to be interested in his approach, her gaze was on the floor while her eyes seemed restless.

Why was she so worried?

Before he could get away from Ginny and approach her, the now director Minerva Mcgonagall brought the attention of all, her words were not very effective, nobody was happy with the decision to stay in a destroyed school to help repair it while in the free time they had to attend the funerals of the dead students, yet nobody complained.

The time then passed like a buzz in the ears of not only him, but of almost everyone. Nobody seemed to be committed to what was happening, most of the people seemed sunk in their own thoughts, some others like Ginny and Ron seemed to want to help improve their moods.

Ron was the most scandalous, praising himself for what he says, were his contributions in the war, how he had helped, how he had destroyed much of the Horcruxes, saving him from drowning, saving Hermione from being tortured, defeating Malfoy when he confronted them inside the castle, etc. He was not worried about Ron's exaggerations, he had always liked fame and praise, and right now Harry was relieved from all the echo his voice was causing at the great hall.

Then a thud and the raw movement of a chair.

Everyone was silent while Hermione got up. "I'm sorry, I've lost my appetite, if you'll excuse me; I'll retire" she murmured.

Harry watched her disappear from the doors. Then, the noise returned, Ron returned to his stories while some Gryffindors laughed. His eyesight continued in the same place where Hermione had left and then, he returned to Ginny, who continued to call his name to get his attention, he smiled slightly, while his eyes returned to her.

Although with a slight twinge that something was not right he tried to pay attention to what Ginny was saying to him but could not, this discomfort was so strong, like a warning that something bad was going to happen

And then it happened

Two days was the time that his bloody head took too late to notice the disappearance of Hermione, two bloody days

And he cursed himself for his mediocre concern for her

He interrogated without ceasing every person in the castle, but nobody had seen her since that dinner in the great hall, and as time went by, his uncertainty also made it

Where was she?

What had happened to her?

What was he going to do without Hermione?

Ron tried to calm him down, with an absurd excuse

"Surely she is out there, reading a book, you know how she prefers to spend more time with her books than with people"

Harry rolled his eyes at his lame comment

And when, a week later, she continued missing, he was not the only one worried

From that moment, everyone panicked

Not as much as he and Ron, but even so, all looked for her without rest, but without finding her

In one of his already recurring sleepless nights while he walked at the corridors of school, Malfoy appeared behind him

After spending so much time being chased by a dark wizard, Harry quickly drew his wand and stuck it in Malfoy's throat. Demanding to explain the reason for his cornering and a confession of his ulterior motives against him

Surely he wished to take revenge for the defeat and the almost imprisonment of his father

Malfoy snorted and denied having any conspiracy against anyone, extending a letter while explaining that it was his payment to the person who had made that letter for leaving him such a splendid gift before leaving. Harry looked at the letter, his face paled once he looked at the name of Hermione Granger on it, taking it from Malfoy without any delicacy, he opened it without losing time.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _The only thing I regret with my hasty departure is not having the courage to say goodbye to you in person._ _Unfortunately, there is nothing that binds me in this school anymore,_ _however there are many more that make me have to leave it._

 _These months here have been a real torture, I need a break,_ _there are a couple of things that I have to do on my own and I'm not going to put my problems on your shoulders too._

 _This is my way of finding a bit of serenity in the broken world that we left, I'm sure you can also find yours on your own_

 _I'm not sure how long it will take me to return or if I'll be back, so please take good care of yourself and do not get into too many problems, I will not be any more to have to force you to behave._

 _Goodbye Harry_

 _With love,_

 _Hermione_

Harry squeezed the letter with his left hand, he dropped his arms while trying to understand, that Hermione, his best friend, had just left him.

The tears that had not spilled even during the end of the war, fell, with something he thought, it was worse than anything that could happen to him or have happened to him

Closing his eyes as the features on his face contracted in pure pain.

If she wanted so much to leave, why did not she take him with her? He would have followed her no matter where she had asked, or the reason she was gone was because she did not want to see him anymore? Was he an intolerable presence for Hermione?

Where had she gone?

Hermione had said in her letter that she was not even sure if she would return

What would he do without her?

He heard Malfoy laugh at his misery, maybe he thought he deserved this

Maybe this was a trap, maybe this was not even a letter from Hermione

Malfoy's bloody face of superiority was seriously making him sick, it was a particularly unpleasant one, he remembered for a moment one more unpleasant words he had said.

"It is my way of payment to the person who made this letter for having left me and entrusted such a splendid gift before leaving"

It was as if Malfoy had obtained something from Hermione that he did not, was it the letter?

Why Hermione had left Malfoy to deliver it?

A brutal anger blinded him at the thought and without realizing it he threw himself on Malfoy, hitting him in the face while trying to calm his fury against him and shouting at him about what he had done with Hermione.

Malfoy and Hermione

It was definitely something he did not want to be together or even written on a parchment

Malfoy tried to push him away, but he was stronger

Then to her bad luck, the director and several students came to take Malfoy out of his hands. He saw him cough and trying to catch some air

But he did not care about almost killing Malfoy, He immediately began to claim that he had done something to Hermione, showing the false letter that he had given him to try to cover his kidnapping and his revenge against him

Mcgonagall looked at him suspiciously but did nothing against Malfoy, on the contrary, she asked him to give his own version of what had happened and why he had that letter in his hands.

That stirred him more, while Malfoy alleged with false innocence that he had met Hermione by chance when he was going to the great hall that night, she had refused to come in and after asking him to deliver the letter to Harry, she had disappeared

The director questioned him again about why he had delivered the letter so late

Malfoy shrugged "Potter deserved it, in fact, he deserved more than that little bit of uncertainty, he did not deserve to have the letter, but even so I gave it to him because I had promised it to Granger"

That only infuriated him more, but again, Neville and Ron stopped him from killing the annoying ferret despite the fact they seemed just as annoying as him.

"He is not lying" he heard the dreamer Luna behind him. And she was the only one who believed it

Anyway, Mcgonagall did a test against the letter, to verify the calligraphy were really from Hermione, and it was, Harry did not need any spells for that, he knew Hermione's neat handwriting but he refused to believe Hermione had abandoned him in such a cruel way

His Hermione would never do something like that

Or would she?

Despite the distrust of Malfoy, no one did anything else, not because of fear, but because no one had any evidence against him, although he himself began to watch Malfoy again, after all, before he had been right in distrusting him, and no one had believed him.

Now, it was obvious that Malfoy was hiding something, something important and related to Hermione, he was not sure what it was, but still, he swore, he would find out no matter how long it took, or what he had to do to achieve it

Unfortunately, the time at Hogwarts ended, a year passed between repairing the school, funerals and classes. He and Ron graduated from Hogwarts, something that they unfortunately could not do with Hermione since she was still missing, Malfoy also graduated without any further incident, keeping a low profile next to the only one who approached him, Blaze Zabini

He and Ron became Aurors, something that made it simple for him to investigate Malfoy and keep looking for Hermione, while at the same time he captured the Death Eaters who had escaped after the battle.

But none of his priorities was very lucrative.

Malfoy had done almost nothing with his life, he had not looked for a job, he only collected obscure gadgets that he had personally gone to examine several times each year at his home, but they had never been used, since his family still had a great fortune he did not need to worry about money

A greasy bum, Ron had murmured to him

The search for Hermione had been stagnant since her sighting in Australia, she had gone to find her parents, the team of Aurors that he designated for his search took several months to find them but when they had arrived at the place, they had found both parents Granger dead and a mutilated werewolf, with traces of two sharp spells. Harry came to the conclusion that Hermione had found them too late but she had killed their murderer, after that, no more had been known about her, at that time Hermione had been missing for 9 years, and no one else but him had any hope of finding her

It had been two years since his last search about Malfoy and Hermione, which meant that Hermione had now disappeared for 11 years.

It is not he no longer cared to know what had happened to Hermione, but now in London they had a very big problem. 27 wizards had been killed and no Auror or himself who was now the head of the Aurors office, nobody had been even close to finding the person responsible for the murders, the crime scenes were practically clean and the evidence was so insufficient that they could not even be examined properly. A wave of terror now covered all the magical London

Ministers around the world were angry at the lack of response from what they called "Inept British"

Kingsley Shacklebolt, the minister had informed the whole department of Aurors about the order to put at the head of the case a witch of the Magical Congress of the United States who would be transferred tomorrow along with her support team

Magical Activity Research

Harry rolled his eyes at how ostentatious that sounded

A new department that M.A.C.U.S.A. had opened only for that Insuperable, reliable and personal internal of the President of the American Congress, Samuel G. Quahog. Who had let her go reluctant at the request of the Council of Ministers

Apparently, according to Kingsley not even he knew the identity of the witch since the president of the M.A.C.U.S.A. Had her practically hidden and hoarded for him alone.

So now he and Ron, his now companion, were here, sitting in Kingsley's office waiting for the records and the name of the Investigator to be brought to them, they who had to pick her up at a Muggle airport

Both were upset of having to be her guardians and having to step on a Muggle airport

"The arrival must be as discreet and as uninformed as possible, we need the least number of people to be notified about this arrival, we do not want our suspect to have to take necessary measures for her arrival as well, and we must take this step far ahead of him"

Kingsley had said that

Although Ron thought they were just spoiling the Witch too much, to what he could not help but agree

When Minister Shacklebolt put the papers in front of them and murmured the researcher's name, both had gotten up from their seats bewildered, turning to see the reaction of the other, both nodded and then left the office very annoyed

"Potter, Wesley, come back, I need to tell you something about her!" They ignored Kingsley

Harry forgot all his Auror training, Kingsley's warnings about being careful, about being discreet.

He did not even care about the case

They appeared in a safe part, outside the airport, clothing settled and they entered the most natural way that their expression still angry allowed them, they looked for the not so common and huge bushy hair, looking over the crowd, small and somewhat ungainly appearance

And they found her

Fighting with a lot of books, something very normal to see. Her hair and she had not changed at all. The huge, colourful glasses that reminded him to Luna Lovegood, that was something unusual

Then they made their first mistake

Ron and he approached, taking her by both arms while they asked her to accompany them. She refused, annoyed, claiming not to know them while withdrawing her arms from them, to the bewilderment of both.

The two introduce themselves to her, but it did not help, she did not remember them from nowhere. They tried to take her away but she continued to refuse and her screams brought the attention of the airport security guards.

Harry ran a hand through his hair irritated by this whole situation, she did not recognize them and now these Muggle men thought that surely they planned to do something immoral with her

They seemed more criminal than anything now that Ron was trying to take her by force

For Merlin's beards...

What would they do now?

.

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 **I do not know how long it takes to write the next chapter, but I will try to do it as soon as possible**

 **Thank you for reading my story, feel free to leave me a comment to know what you think about it**

 **Bye.**

 **Raitsuki141**


	2. Chapter 2: Golden Trio

**Hello everyone**

 **It's only been four days since I published the first chapter of this story, as I promised, as fast as possible I finished the second chapter**

 **This story will go a little slower than I first thought, but I hope that even so, this is taking a bit of consciousness and that none of you have difficulty identifying where I plan to take it.**

 **If you have it, please feel free to leave me a comment about it.**

 **Thank you very much for reading my story**

 **And enjoy it.**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

 **Chapter 2: Golden Trio**

Harry and Ron went into Kingsley's office, not caring the curious look of the other people in the Ministry while they levitated an unconscious Hermione behind them. They had managed to escape from the Muggle guards at the airport, throwing a confusing spell surreptitiously and another one to Hermione to get her out of there. Then, they had quietly left the place, and then appear outside the Ministry of Magic

While Harry was knocking on the door, He heard Kingsley talking to someone on the other side but he did not care, this was something more important and did not have time to wait

After a couple of noises, he heard Kingsley's authorization to enter "I hope you have a good excuse to show up here so late and without obeying my orders," he said from his desk chair

Harry thought the last comment in the form of a claim was due to the fact that before leaving they had ignored him. "We had an inconvenience bringing her here, but I guess you already know that since we ignored your warnings" while talking, He tried to find the person Kingsley was talking to before he interrupted them, but he could not see her anywhere.

"If with the inconvenience of bringing her, you refer to not having done it, then we agree"

That seemed odd

"We brought her, she went crazy in that place, but we still brought her" Ron appeared next to him, stepping aside while Hermione's body also entered the office

Kingsley crossed his arms "I do not know this woman whom you just took by force, but Hermione Granger arrived alone for more than half an hour and she is... "

"I'm right here" Appearing back from the hidden place where she was covered inside one of the walls. Harry saw a tall, thin woman

She did not look anything like the Hermione he remembered. His hair was not thick anymore. Her fine and aesthetic posture was definitely not about the Hermione that had once hit Draco Malfoy in her third year. He could not see her face carefully since she was wearing strange bronze spectacles with several magnifying glasses in front of them, a little more exclusive and raw than Luna's Spectrespecs. "I can not believe you guys confused me with that poor Muggle girl"

"How do you know she's a muggle?" Took Kingsley the question from his mouth

"I've seen that that kind of glasses is fashionable among Muggles, in addition, she doesn't have any trace of magic around her, so she has not used or been close to anything that has to do with magic" She explained, her eyes wandered through every place in the office as if she were looking for something

Maybe those weird spectacles were the ones that helped her find the remnants of magic in her work as a Magical Activity Researcher

"I see" Kingsley sighed tiredly "Wesley please take that poor woman to the Obliviator Headquarters and return her to the place where she was before you captured her"

"But" he wanted to fight back

"Just do what I told you Wesley, Potter will then inform you of anything that is going to be discussed in this office, is that clear?"

Ron sighed, nodding he left the office with the woman levitating from the tip of his wand

"Well, back to what we were talking about before you and I were so rudely interrupted Miss Granger..." Kingsley began

Hermione interrupted him, pulling the spectacles slightly upwards to let her see clearly to the two men inside the office "the rest of my team will be here in a week, Tzeentch will be part of my department and that, as I said a few moments ago before we were interrupted" Her voice darkened "That is not within any negotiation. I thought that President Quahog had spoken with you about this important and unbreakable clause"

"He did it, but I thought that one last attempt to make you change your mind, it would not be a problem"

"I do not intend to work anywhere where he is not welcome, even if I have to let lose all the Magic London with my departure" was her stern comment

That did not sound like something Hermione would say

"I am surprised by those words coming from you Miss Granger, I always thought you were someone with a good moral foundation, it seems that I do not know you as well as I thought" Kingsley muttered reproachfully.

"I also remember that you were not intolerant, someone who tries to recriminate me on my moral basis but despises the help of an elf that you consider to infer to remain in this case, I don't think either knew you as I thought Minister" she said back

"I do not judge him or consider him to be inferring to me, but a dark elf could be dangerous"

"To consider him dangerous without knowing him is to judge him" Hermione pointed out "Anyway, he has no interest in the magical world, he's just here for me. There will be no problem if you leave him alone and do not bother him. And as I have already told you, if he is not allowed in this place, I will withdraw from the case"

Kingsley gave a last breath of defeat "All right, the dark elf Tzeentch and the pet Isos are allowed inside the Ministry of Magic. By the way ... Where is the pet?" Kingsley asked

Harry had no idea who or where he was, not even the dark elf named Tzeentch that they had been fighting with until a few seconds ago, much less the pet named Isos.

"Ah, yes, about him…" The strange artefact that she used as spectacles returned to her face again "Allow me a second please" She took the hat from Harry that he was wearing on his head, disconcerting him

Her eyes wandered back over the office. "There's a little inconvenience about him, he probably doesn't cause many problems but it might surprise you if you ever see him "she continued explaining "¡Here!" She stretched both arms on the desk, quickly putting the hat on some scrolls that were on top "As I said, It's nothing serious, but it could be an inconvenience that likes to play around" turning the hat in her hands, a doormat and very small black puppy appeared

"He disappears" Kingsley pointed out "What kind of creature is it?"

"There is no other species like him, when I found it causing some discomfort in a small town" the little dog came out of the hat, appearing on Hermione's shoulder "I think it's a subspecies, he is an experimental offspring of several magical creatures with a non-magical offspring" that horrified both men

"I thought Experimentation with magical creatures was forbidden" was the only comment that came out of Harry

"It's forbidden" Hermione commented, looking at him after all this time "After saving Isos, I took care of the man and the place where these atrocities were being done"

"You arrested him I want to assume" Kingsley raised an eyebrow

"I was not part of the ministry at that time, but I left that man in a place where Aurors could go for him, not kill him if that's what you're thinking" Hermione looked at him now annoyed

"I did not want to bother you but I had to make sure of this, after the scene you left in your parents' place"

Harry grimaced after seeing the frizz on Hermione's features. "Do you blame me for what I did?"

"Looking for that creature to avenge the death of your parents, it was not a wise decision"

Crossing her arms, Hermione replied "I did not look for it, that werewolf was there waiting for me when I got to my parents' place. I just defended myself from its attack"

"What do you mean?"

"My parents were only the bait to bring me to that place, although I suppose the creature had to wait a long time for my arrival since after the battle it took me months to go looking for them, anyway, that creature was there for me and the moment I saw my parents dead, he attacked me"

Kingsley and himself were somewhat stunned by the recent revelation "A Death Eater attack?" Harry muttered

"There is nothing that you have to break your head with, it was something that would happen eventually after my participation in the war and with all those Death Eaters still hiding out there, although I would have wished my parents had not ended up in the middle of this "Sighing, she continued "They did not deserve that, maybe I should have erased their memories much earlier, maybe I should have hidden them, maybe I did not worry about them enough, they deserved more"

Those words and the troubled look in Hermione, made a knot in Harry's heart

She denied several times with her head "Anyway that does not matter now, talking about Isos, his behaviour may not be the best of all but he is not dangerous, he just likes to be a little naughty" she tried to defend him

"Okay, as long as it does not cause a lot of trouble here, your pet can still stay" Kingsley nodded. Now somewhat annoyed by his bad judgment about Hermione "Do you have your accommodation ready here?"

"Not really, I had to rush out of New York, anyway, any place is acceptable, we just need a room, so I guess somewhere in the Leaky Cauldron will be fine for now, although I probably need a bigger place once the rest of my team arrives here"

"How many more of your team are still to come?" Asked Kingsley

"Two more people"

Harry saw this as his effervescent opportunity "You can stay with me" bringing with it, the attention of the two people in front of him "I mean, if you want. There are two rooms available there" he tried to correct himself

He didn't want to scare her with his overzealous words

Hermione looked at him distrustfully "I don't want to impose my presence in your place Harry, I don't think it's the best"

"No! I mean, it's just me and Ron in that place, I would be happier and calmer if you stay with us"

"Just you and Ron?" She seemed surprised with that revelation

"Yes" He nodded "Is there a problem with that?" He asked confused

"You can have it" He stopped her "I promise you that neither Ron nor I will enter your room" continued to convince her "Your pet Isos and your friend… What was his name like?"

"Tzeentch"

"Your friend, Tzeentch?" He tried to say correctly, a nod from her motive him to continue "he can also stay, as I told you, there are two rooms available in my house, he can stay in the other one. I promise that both will have their own privacy and nobody will enter to your rooms"

Hermione looked at him for some very frightening minutes, as if she was still evaluating his proposition, then, passing what were eternities to him. She finally replied "Okay, I'll stay with you" she nodded

He almost raised both hands after his victory "But Tzeentch will stay in my room"

Hermione and someone else in her room did not listen at all well to him. "Okay, if you wish, it's okay" As he had said before, that was not good at all, but he did not say anything, afraid that she would change her mind if he refused her request

"Well, I guess by clarifying all the points we have here, you and Potter can leave Miss Granger, I'll see you and Mr. Potter tomorrow morning to discuss our case"

They both nodded at what Kingsley said and left the office

An uncomfortable silence fell on them

Live with Harry and Ron?

Maybe hadn't been one of her best decisions. And in these last eleven years, she had had many bad decisions, but she could worry about that later.

Right now she had to concentrate on finding Isos again who had run away from her when Harry and she were talking a while ago

Suddenly she felt something slip soft and warm in her hand. Something she had not felt in a long time

It did not take her even a moment to realize who was holding her hand. A slight movement of her neck to her left side and her eyes settled on her best friend

Harry Potter, who was standing next to her, with what he thought was a discreet smile as he looked at the front of the hall. She studied him carefully, without shame. He had changed a lot since the last time she had seen him.

His face had become more mature, he had become taller, a few centimetres more than her; He wore with apparent pride a beard grown perhaps no more than three or four days and his hair more messy than she remembered in spite of being so short. The only thing that had not changed in him was his spectacles

She suddenly let go of his hand, something that made him frown "You sure do not know how to remember a simple spell, right?" She stood in front of him with her extended wand pointing in front of his eyes, something that made him retreat one step back _"Oculus Reparo"_ The small cut in his spectacles then disappeared

Harry smiled brightly "I couldn't do it, it wasn't the same if it was not you who did it"

His response made her smile back to him

Then behind Hermione there was a snap. Harry tried to take his wand but Hermione held his wrist to keep it from moving. He looked at her, questioning her but she shook her head "Móðolfr, I have found Isos and I left him in a safe place, have you concluded your unfinished business in this place?"

Hermione turned to look at the strange creature, Harry did not know who it was "Tzeentch, I am glad you are here, we have finished for today and tomorrow we will begin our real work here in London" Then, the sight of Hermione returned to the person behind her "This is my friend who had spoken to you before, his name is Harry Potter" she stepped aside so both could face each other

He shook Harry's hand "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Potter, my name is Tzeentch, I am the Guard and protector of Móðolfr" with his free hand he pointed to Hermione

Harry studied him no matter how rude this gesture could be, he was too curious to ignore his presence.

It was strange to look at a dark elf. Harry only knew the house elves and this creature in front of him was nothing like any of them.

His skin was a gray colour, his eyes were a blue so bright, none as he had ever seen; his ears were not as long as those of the house elves but they were pointy, his hair cut and white, his face with several cuts that looked old, and a not-so-thick beard covering it. He was even wearing a vest, shirt and dress trousers "Stop looking at him like that" Hermione rebuked him

"I'm sorry" Harry apologized looking down "I was just a little curious, I did not want to make him feel uncomfortable "he cleared his throat" It will not happen again "he promised

"It's okay, you're not the first to do it" those words, although they seemed conciliatory, only made him feel worse

"I think it's time to leave" Hermione interrupted "I do not think today is the best day to stay in the ministry so long, tomorrow it will be fine but first I need to prepare some things"

Harry nodded as he walked through the hallways. They would have to reach the chimneys on the main floor, which are connected to the Red Flu. That would take them straight to Diagon Alley, then they could appear outside 12 Grimmauld Place

He took them all the way in the same way he thought about it.

While his thoughts wandered to the girl who was explaining some things from London to Tzeentch. He could not help but smile at this typical gesture of Hermione, a gesture that had never changed since the moment he met her

Harry could not help but keep watching her. Because she was here. She was alive.

All those years of remaining the hope of seeing her again, and she was finally here with him. He was relieved to know that despite her parents' attack, the Death Eaters had not hurt her.

But something bothered him

And it is that even while she was speaking, Harry noticed that there was nothing peaceful in the expression on her face, and he didn't think her tense posture was particularly about something about her trip on a plane. There had to be something more bothering her.

"Harry," she whispered, squeezing his shoulder lightly. It was enough for his eyes to focus and settle on her slight mocking smile that she dedicated to him. He immediately joined the scene in front of him, while Hermione withdrew her hand. He ran a hand through his hair and gave her a smile that was more an uncomfortable grimace.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking surprised to be inside the house already.

"Are we already here?" He asked naïvely, and then shook his head at his own words "I mean, of course we had to be here, I can see that ... but it was so fast." that explanation seemed more to himself than to her

Hermione just kept smiling while listening to him babble. Finding she was relieved he was a little clumsy and forgetful as she remembered him, something she thought was the most endearing thing about him. For a moment, she could imagine the time between them had not passed, nor the war nor eleven years away from each other.

Discovering that the Harry she had met on the Hogwarts train was still there. To her misfortune, probably the Hermione he had known at eleven years old, had died and she herself had been responsible for doing the dirty work

"How long has my mind been out?" He asked, bringing her also to reality

Hermione ignored his question, examining the long hallway instead. The dark and full of cobwebs house with the wallpaper peeling off and the worn carpet was not here anymore. The house was now lit with gas lamps and a large overhead chandelier, the newly painted walls were white and a new carpet was placed on the floor.

Her eyesight then came to the annoying portrait of Walburga Black who had pierced her ears on her last stay here "She's gone" she murmured without hiding her joy

Harry turned his eyes, finding the cause of Hermione's happiness. A white smooth wall where Sirius' mother had once been "It was difficult, but I managed to do it with a potion after finding some basilisk poison to make it" Harry leaned forward to get close enough for what he thought, was to see her properly. One step away from being able to embrace her. "I thought that the day you came back, I wanted you to come to a place where you felt so comfortable, that you did not want to leave again"

Hermione did not know why she had started to blush, but she could not help it. Maybe it was because she felt a little guilty about his accusation, or maybe was because the penetrating way in which he was looking at her? She didn't know, but she didn't like it

It makes her feel too uncomfortable

"Maybe Mr. Potter can show us our room now, we have a lot of things to do before we start the case tomorrow morning" Tzeentch interrupted, knowing the discomfort of his Móðolfr. With a click magically he pulled Harry back a few steps from her "Please, I kindly ask you not to get too close to her, you are bothering her"

Harry was surprised at the elf's outburst, "I'm sorry" even more bewildered that he was right and Hermione really seemed uncomfortable with his proximity to her I did not want to, I mean ... I wanted to, I, I-I'm sorry Hermione, it will not happen again" his voice trembled

"It's Okay, just ... just don't do it again" and Hermione's voice shuddered too

And her words hurt, almost as much as that day she had left, leaving him alone

Harry voice grew serious. "I'm sorry, Hermione"

"It's not your fault, Harry" Hermione cleared her throat "I got used to always being alert to danger, so it's kind of weird for me to have this kind of coexistence, even if it's with you" she tried to explain to him, she did not want Harry to feel bad, as if he had done something wrong

When she was the problem

"Is it because of your work in the American ministry?" Harry tried to know, although he did not dare say if it was because of the war

"It's not because of war if that's what you want to know" was her simple answer

"What is that supposed to mean?" He frowned

"It means, we must deal with our own decisions whether they are bad or good, so it does not make sense for me to answer your question"

Harry, seeing her answer and her serious look, could only guess that her words meant _"mind your own business"_

He pressed his lips together. "I do not quite believe that"

"It's okay, you've always been stubborn" and that was another way of saying _"I do not care what you say, this talk ends here"_

The mood of Hermione returned "Then will you show us the room?" Harry remained rigid from his place next to Tzeentch and Hermione definitely noticed. "I thought the need to have my own privacy had been clear in Kingsley's office"

Harry swallowed, nodding "You're right, I'm sorry" He could not do anything else today, no matter how much he wanted an explanation from Hermione, he was afraid that she would feel cornered and leave

After all, she had previously made it clear that there was nothing here that made her stay

"Follow me please, this way" Up the stairs ahead of them, his mind lost itself again in his diffuse thoughts

He remembered something in particular

The same night he had beaten Malfoy so many years ago, after he had returned annoyingly to his bedroom and read the letter of Hermione for the thousandth time.

Ron had appeared then and had confessed that before he and Hermione had started having more fights than normal, their relationship had become unbearable, so he was not surprised that she decided to leave, probably tired of having to deal with everything around her, and with him too.

For a moment he wanted to hit Ron too, the foolish thought that Ron had been the culprit of Hermione had nothing else to stay for then

But, her anger soon turned into anguish a the discover that after her failed relationship with Ron, she didn't consider him a enough reason to stay

That broke a part of him

"We are here" he said with frustration.

"Hey," Hermione said as soon as she saw his expression. Standing in front of the door, with one hand on it "Are you okay? If we are bothering you, we can leave, we do not have any problem with that."

"No" That was what bothered him, the easy way in which Hermione wanted to get away from him "You do not have to go because this room belongs to you and because I want you to stay"

"Thanks Harry" she took the keys he offered her ""Really Harry, keys? One would think that you have lived enough in the magical world to learn some spells to lock a door" she scoffed, risking a smile

"I like some things in the Muggle way" He shrugged, unable to see the humour in the simple keys

"I guess I'm the one who lacks a bit of practice with a couple of Muggle things, at this rate I could become useless without magic" she said with melancholy "America has a few retrograde thoughts about people and things without magic"

"I've heard about that"

"It's okay, anyway, it's not like I used to spend so much time in the Muggle world before" She shrugged her shoulders

He frowned. "It's not supposed to be like that."

She raised an eyebrow. "Then how is that supposed to be?"

He bit his cheek to not answer that

How could she say that when her parents were Muggles?

"It was always that way, even when I was going home, I knew I had to practice my spells if I wanted to survive the war so I did not do a lot of Muggle things. I had my priorities, instead of using a key, I learned how to make one" she raised the key he had given her. Then, she placed it in is hand "Thanks for allowing us to stay here, it will only be for a couple of days until the rest of my team arrives to London" She drew her wand _"Alohomora"_ and the door opened "Goodnight, Harry"

"Goodnight" he murmured back and then the door closed but not before letting him see the sly smile of Tzeentch

He looked at the door, blinking bewildered. How could she be so calm after what she had said? Was she blaming him for not spending so much time with her parents? She who knew better than anyone what he felt and what he had gone through in the war, she had been there!

Maybe that was what she had wanted to say, she did not need him to press her to talk about the war because he had also been there

When Harry finally got down the stairs Ron was already there. He was sitting in an armchair, staring absent-mindedly at the burning fireplace. Ron practically jumped when Harry came to sit on the long sofa next to him. "Hey," he greeted with a grimace.

"I just left Hermione and her friend in her room," he confessed.

"So she'll stay here? Ron asked

"Does that bother you?" Harry raised an eyebrow

"No, I was just a little curious since the last time she thought it was a bad idea" was a sarcastic remark about her escape eleven years ago

Harry smiled at Ron "She still thinks about it, she has tried at least twice to find an excuse to leave"

Ron laughed, he actually laughed "One would think that after eleven years she could finally bear to see us, I think the time has not been enough for her. But nobody can blame her, its hard work to spend so much time with us"

"Is that the reason why we are partners? I thought it was because we made a good team like Aurors"

"That too" Ron nodded, smiling at his friend's smile. "So, how are our prisoners up there?"

Harry snorted "Right now probably trying to place an endless number of anti-opening spells and traps so nobody tries to open their room" He ran a hand through her hair "I have already promised her that I would respect her privacy, but she seems to be very sullen with her things, I couldn't even ask her anything without her telling me in a subtle way to not get involved in her business"

"She has changed a lot" Ron said distractedly

Harry nodded as he thought of Hermione's indifference. It meant something, something really bad, but now was not the time to consider that "She is accompanied by a dark elf, Kingsley thinks he is dangerous" Hermione's fierce protector, Tzeentch, passed through his mind "I just think it's very strange but not dangerous" After all, what had motivated him to stay with Hermione?

"I met him" Ron commented looking at Harry's confusion, he added "I saw him when I left Kingsley's office with that Muggle girl, he was leaning against the wall next to me, he looked at me like he was using Legilimency against me" He winced at the memory. Then the realization made him horrified "You do not think dark elves have that ability, do you?"

"I don't know Ron, I really don't know anything about the dark elves" Harry told him, and it was the truth, which made him feel a little useless, because Harry didn't know much about beasts or magical beings.

Ron sighed "I only know a little bit of what my father has told me since in the ministry they had an incident with one but it did not end well" Seeing the confusion in Harry he explained "They had to kill him" Harry's heart constricted at the thought that Hermione had to be a witness of something like that, that would probably destroy her "From what my father told me dark elves are categorized as evil by their appearance, they have black skin since most work forging, others are ancestral guardians, they are very threatening when they must protect something and even more when they are treated rudely and usually try to avoid the light, although they are not necessarily underground"

Harry thought of Tzeentch, his skin was not black, more like a pale gray, ancestral protectors? How had he known Hermione and come to the point of deciding that she would be the one he would protect? "He will work with us in the case, Hermione has personally requested it" he said distractedly

"You have to be kidding me" Ron said, shuddering. "And if Kingsley is right, can you imagine how disastrous this would end?"

Harry could definitely, but he was not going to say it out loud. "But if Hermione decided he's here, we'll have to trust her."

"Even if she doesn't trust us?" Ron reminded him

Harry looked at him annoyed "Even if Hermione does not trust us," he pointed out.

"Fine" Ron got up "I'll go to sleep, tomorrow we'll probably have a long and more complicated day with those two going around in our investigation, probably our case go down a couple of steps back before we manage to catch the killer"

Harry raised an eyebrow in his direction "We have not even progress one step closer to the killer" he clarified

Ron stopped on the stairs "Exactly my point"

Harry rolled his eyes smiling "Just go to sleep Ron, you have started to rant"

"By no means my friend, you're the only one who has begun to hallucinate if you think that strange pair will make our job easier" Ron raised both eyebrows before starting to climb the stairs but not before adding with his best Hermione voice "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed before you come with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled" He finished with a voice probably too high for Hermione herself to hear it too

Harry laughed at Ron's humorous occurrence, something that was probably missing in this house for a long time.

Once Ron was out of sight, Harry collapsed completely on the couch. His smile faded and his gaze turned grim. When he was alone, his thoughts began to oscillate. "Merlin… I feel like I'm drowning" he said almost in a whisper.

What was he going to do now?

All this time, all these years had been only to find Hermione, and now that he had found her, even though she was so close in the room that he had decorated for her with the hope that she would use it when she returned, even though she was here

She felt even more distant than before

She was and at the same time she wasn't his Hermione

Could that be more absurd?

Harry doubted he would never forget the words and the cold look Hermione had given him a moment ago before she entered to her room.

Where was the warm and kindly Hermione who always tried to support him?

Harry shuddered at the thought. Losing Hermione again was not a possibility.

"There must be something I can do" he said frustrated "Something I'm losing right now, but what is it?" He dropped his head on the back of the sofa, looking at the ceiling

Unnoticed for him, someone was watching him from the top of the stairs

"Is there something that distresses you Móðolfr?" asked Tzeentch behind her

Hermione with crossed arms continued looking at a self-conscious Harry "He will not stop until his curiosity subsides" she confessed "That's probably one of the best qualities and weaknesses of Harry"

"Do you think we should go?"

"We should probably do it"

Tzeentch looked down at her and because of her vague comment he understood what she meant "We'll stay then" he answered for her

"It would not be the first mistake I would make in all this time you know me" she replied with irony

"No, it would not be" He smiled "But this could probably cause you more problems than you could handle" adding already without any trace of fun "Right now it's quite overpowering" He extended his hand for her to take it

She did it, letting herself be guided into the room again

The room had not been moved at all. Inside it, the suitcase Hermione had brought with her was open on the floor "Your best idea until now could be this enchanted suitcase" it was the praise of Tzeentch

"In fact, the idea is taken from someone else" she confessed, putting one foot inside "A wizard whom I greatly admire" she added before entering all of herself inside the suitcase

Tzeentch then snapped his fingers, appearing next to Hermione "Either way, it's a good idea"

"Yeah, it is, the difference is I don't use it to have beasts here" She shrugged her shoulders

"He used a suitcase to have beasts there?" That surprised him, it was the first time he heard something so ridiculous

"Yeah" And she nodded as if it were the most common thing in the world, even in the magical world

"And you used it as a library, an apothecary, lounge potions, alchemist laboratory, astronomy tower, house and last but not least a Wolf pit" The fingers of his hands reached to the seventh "That, not counting the places of this suitcase in what I have not been yet"

Hermione stopped looking through the cabinets, to see him with curiosity "You've been living with me for two years, what makes you think there are still hidden places you have not seen?"

He smiled "Because you like to hide things"

She nodded "You forgot to mention the tea room" She turned back to the cabinets and gadgets behind her, taking some and stuffing them into her briefcase "And for the record, I have not hidden anything from you, you are the one who did not want to see the rest of the place, you prefer to be always harassing me closely"

"I know, I just like to make fun of you" he shrugged "What are you looking for?

"The ring, I do not know where I left it, I could swear to leave it somewhere but I cannot remember where..." Her words were cut off when Tzeentch took from his vest pocket the shiny object "Thank you" she said taking it and placing it in her left hand "I do not know where I put my head this day" She tried to excuse herself

"You are nervous, you are nervous because them" He said, referring to Ron and Harry

"Not only for them, all London makes me nervous, in America I am famous and here too, but for a different reason"

"Because the war"

"Also for being the friend of Harry Potter" She agreed "I always hate the sensation-oriented trend of this place" She muttered under her breath as she remembered Rita Skeeter

"So much pressure would not be ideal for our impatient guest" He reminded her

Hermione snorted "I know, I'm looking for a way to get rid of that "she sighed" It's becoming impossible, it gets stronger while I get more exasperated"

He nodded understanding "The best thing now is to finish helping the British wizards, then we can go to Island, maybe there is a way to stop it there"

"Are you hiding something from me?" she raised an eyebrow at him

She saw him deny "It might not be a good idea either that's why I had not mentioned it, but, since we're running out of ideas ..."

"It's probably the only solution we have left" she agreed

Tzeentch was right

Anyway, what could she still lose?

The only thing he had to worry about now is to keep Ron and Harry out of her way.

They did not need more problems than the magical London already had.

And the most danger, probably more than that loose murderer out there, what was hidden inside was something that Tzeentch always referred to as Wolf pit

A very suitable name for something like that

... And, nevertheless, probably also the most disturbing in that. "Anyway, you and I should be cautious, as I said before, Harry is usually someone very curious and persistent; he will try under all means to know what we are hiding, well, almost all, he will not break the trust we speak, he will not enter the room but he will look for other ways to find out"

"Of course that's what trust means" Tzeentch murmured sarcastic "Our problems will be solved once this case ends and we leave"

She bit her cheek to avoid contradicting him

But somehow he was right

She did not want anyone strange to enter this place. This was her sanctuary, from the moment she had decided to create it more than ten years ago. She jokingly sometimes referred to her suitcase as her base of operations; the mainspring of her watch. She did not even blink at the time of making it her home, despite all the mistakes and bad things she had to go through these years, it was always a joy for her to know that she had a place to feel safe and comfortable

Even if for many people it was just a suitcase

Or the headquarters of a Wolf Pit like Tzeentch thought

"We will finish this quickly" she agreed

That was the best option; that was not going to give Harry time to start investigating anything about her.

She would not give him the time or freedom for him to start digging up any of her secrets

Because probably if he managed to get something out, she would end up in Azkaban, San Mungo or worse…

If Harry managed to find the Wolf Pit, he would probably end up dead

That realization made her shudder, definitely prevent that from happening.

.

.

 **Very soon, chapter three.**

 **.**

 **Atte. Raitsuki141**


	3. Chapter 3: The Thestral Chase

**Here I leave the chapter 3, I hope you like it.**

 **A bit obvious I was inspired by the soundtrack of Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald,** **the song, _The Thestral Chase._**

 **A little longer the chapter, I hope you do not mind.**

 **Thanks for following my story.**

 **.**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

 **Chapter 3: The Thestral Chase**

On the morning when Harry left his room, the first thing he did was to stand in front of Hermione's room, ready to knock on the door. "They've already left." It was what Ron had said

So now, Harry was standing next to Ron, in a bad mood, walking to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement "I don't know why you are so upset, you should expect such behaviour from the woman who left us for eleven years" Ron raised an eyebrow, opening the door for him "The best thing is for you to prevent yourself from behaving like this from now on"

"Shut up Ron," he muttered. "I just thought that she could at least go with us on the way to the office, was it wrong for me to think that?" he asked sarcastic

"Definitely" Ron agreed

"... So it's an honour for me to report that Miss Granger will be the head in this case" Kingsley said, pointing to Hermione next to him

They listened to the applause of the other Aurors from their cubicles, surprised murmurs and congratulations did not take long to appear, while Hermione smiled somewhat uncomfortable of all the attention she was receiving. "Thank you very much, but I think we should start with our case now" She began to stop their excited compliments and questions that were for her, she had no intention of answering anything about her personal life "This problem starts to get bigger with time that is wasted with banalities like this, so I wish the head of the department could recount the facts and investigations we have about the scenes and the murderer "all around were dissatisfied, but they returned to sit in their cubicles" Mr. Potter, could you please?" she pointed to the papers that were found in her cubicle

He blinked confused, that professional way sounded so bad and strange coming from Hermione

Mr. Potter?

He felt a nudge of Ron from behind him.

Harry turned to see him for a few seconds as he grimaced and made signs for him to do what Hermione said. Still somewhat dazed, he walked to Hermione, clearing his throat while taking several pictures and levitating them _"Engorgio"_ he murmured, making the images grow "There are only four places where the homicides have been"

Hermione frowned. "Four places for twenty-seven dead wizards?"

Harry nodded "He chooses the same places to kill them, possibly because it makes it easier to erase all the evidence" Then he tried to do the same thing with another pair of photographs, this time, of the victims "There's no point showing you the others, everyone has died the same way" he looked at her, curious about her reaction.

But he was more curious to see there was no reaction, Hermione's face was still so calm. When he had seen the mutilated bodies the first time, he could stop himself from being horrified by the brutality in which they had been killed "It's not about any beast" he heard her murmur

Harry looked at her strangely. "Of course it's not about a beast, why would you say that?"

Hermione looked at him sternly, probably because that comment had made her sound like she was some kind of fool or psychopath "Have you ever seen a spell do something like this?" She asked back

Listening to the laughter of the other Aurors made him feel like a complete idiot "What about a werewolf?" He heard one of the Aurors say

Hermione looked at him, it was no other than Blaise Zabini "It could be, although they tend to be very messy, then there should be some trace or scratches, they usually lose hair under attack"

"Unless someone is cleaning their mess for them" He tried to refute her

"It's a big probability" She agreed "Anyway, that would leave us standing in the same place, after all, Who would take the trouble to feed a werewolf with wizards? That would attract a lot of attention"

"You're right Granger if they were Muggles, nobody would have bothered to do it" Blaze got up from his seat, walking to her desk

Harry tensed at his words, remembering that they had only noticed the death of Hermione's parents because they had looked after her. Would Zabini have said it with the intention of annoying Hermione? Looking at his face, Harry found no trace of enjoyment. Instead, there was a seriousness and companionship towards her that bothered him

"But here we have twenty-seven wizards of which twenty are Aurors, killed in only less than four months, we have our own priorities, do not you think?" He placed a couple of other papers in her hands. She raised an eyebrow but he simply ignored her and returned to his cubicle "Those are the proofs of the last murder, they were analysed and delivered this morning to me"

Hermione flipped through the papers, frowning "Justin Finch-Fletchley?" Justin Finch-Fletchley? The only one who was petrified with her in the second year? A muggle born?

"Found in the forbidden forest of Hogwarts where he was an Astronomy professor" Zabini continued with his explanation "Mutilated like the rest of them, found by a couple of centaurs who only agreed to deliver what was left of him without any explanation and then they disappeared"

Hermione looked at the picture more closely to the discomfort of Harry who also approached her but not without making a pair of grimaces "There are a couple of bites here, but they are not from any werewolf"

Zabini nodded "They are not, I had to send them to analyse so I could reach that conclusion "he was amazed at her insight" How are you so sure they are not?"

"I've seen a couple of werewolf attacks up close, I know how to differentiate them" Still analysing the photograph she just shrugged "Also, my parents were tooth doctors" She bit her tongue to not say dentists, they would not understand it anyway. And she stopped looking at the image to turn it to the other Aurors, who seemed disgusted to see it "And these marks of Finch-Fletchley's body are of human teeth"

"Human teeth? You're crazy! "Ron who until now had been quiet was shocked to even say it "What kind of person would bite someone else?"

Everyone around them seemed equally terrified, the murmurs and denials in the room began to get stronger, louder

A snap of Tzeentch from the back of the place silenced everyone, who looked at the elf suspiciously "I'm not crazy Ronald" Hermione rebuked him sternly, making him contract from his place and keep quiet again, she took a breath before continuing "In the muggle world there have already been incidents where people eat others" That did nothing to calm the Aurors in their places "Anyway, there is another probability here, we do not necessarily talk about cannibalism among wizards"

"Cannibalism?" Zabini asked curious

"The term Muggles use when one person eats part of another," Hermione explained, several nodded. "As I said, there could be another explanation, but I personally need to go to the place where the murder happened."

"Do you want to go to the forbidden forest?" Harry asked dumbfounded

Zabini laughed "I definitely want to see that, I'll go with you"

"That's fine with me" Hermione agreed

"Have you lost your mind Hermione? You're going to kill us there. "Ron raised his voice again

"No one is asking you to go Ronald" she pointed out

"Probably afraid," mocked Zabini

"I'll go too" Harry said

Hermione looked at him, seeing that he was so stubborn that she would not change his mind "If that's what you want" she shrugged

Ron sighed "Well, I'm going too"

Hermione crossed her arms to him. "I don't want to hear any of your whining Ronald, so if you plan to go with us it's better to keep quiet during the whole trip"

Ron opened his mouth to answer, but when she raised a threatening eyebrow he closed it again, nodding only

Waiting for Hermione to try to fight him again, but instead, she looked back to her desk, took the papers and then turned her face to the front "The five of us will then go to investigate the forbidden forest, the others of you need them to divide to watch the four places where the murders were" The rest of the Aurors nodded to Hermione's authoritative voice "If it is true the killer chose those places strategically, he will return"

Everyone got up, beginning to talk to each other about how they would separate

"We should go now" she murmured looking at Harry and Ron "Zabini" she called him, walking towards him

"Is there a problem, boss?" He asked cheerfully

She shook her head "Ready for some adventure?" She smiled at him

"Of course, I read so much about your adventures that I can't wait to be part of one of them" He confessed

"Spying on me all these years?" She raised an eyebrow, a little self-conscious of the recent information. How much did he know of what she had done during these years?

"Only from the last three years, a legend narrator who was entrusted with your story of those years" he shrugged

She almost let out the sigh of relief that caused him "Okay, those were the good years of my life, nothing you missed," he assured her.

"The bad things that happen to us, unfortunately, are the most exciting" he said simply

She nodded "Time to go Mr. Zabini"

"I am here for anything you are ready to offer Miss Granger" offered his arm

But she subtly rejected it

They both smiled before Harry and Ron approached them, asking with their eyes what all that mystery between them was, but both ignored them

"Very good gentlemen, take your hands" she said taking one hand from Harry and the other to Tzeentch, who had already reached them

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked curiously. "You can't make an apparition in the ministry."

"Just do it." She shrugged off his words, then Harry took Ron's, and reluctantly cursed, he took Zabini's

And the five disappeared.

.

.

Harry could not believe they really were in the forbidden forest, however, looking to the sides, he could verify it by the large, dark and gloomy place "And how do you plan to find the place where Fletchley was killed? Nobody has managed to walk the forbidden forest completely!" Ron complained one more time

Hermione looked around, nothing had changed since the last time she had been here "I thought I told you before leaving the ministry I didn't want to hear your whining"

Ron crossed his arms "Yeah, Well, that was before I knew you did not have any plan to look around"

"We could ask help from Hagrid" Harry tried to help

"It's not necessary," Hermione stopped, looking for something from the inside pocket of her dark trench coat. "I have a plan" she said annoyed, lifting the strange, golden object from her hand to Ron who just rolled his eyes from his spot.

"What is that?" Zabini asked

"The Muggles call it a sundial compass, a combination of two instruments" Hermione explained as she levelled the instrument and placed it in the correct position to prevent the hinges moving from their place, turning them around. "It's a bit complex but very effective, although I also modified it for a different purpose, which is to be a dark detector" Once the shadow of the clock was in the correct position, Hermione levitated over her hand

"A dark detector?" Harry murmured.

What had Hermione done to create such a thing from a simple Muggle object?

Hermione was a brilliant witch

The brightest witch of her era

He remembered she was always described that way, but there was something that didn't fit now

After all, despite being always ready to learn she had been cautious with the risk and cost with which some spells were conjured

That's why she, while they were searching for horcruxes and even knowing the Fiendfyre was a curse that would destroy even the Horcrux, because of its dangerousness, Hermione had refused to use it.

And now, making a dark detector was not something that any ordinary magician would do

It was strange

He watched as the device lit up a bright blue, then, after a flash, a trail of magical energy began to trace a path through the forest. "Come on," Hermione ordered, running ahead of them.

Tzeentch and Zabini behind her while Ron and he ran backwards

Harry looked around but could not notice anything in particular, treading underbrush, bushes with thorns and the occasional muddy puddle. A road almost impassable

They probably walked for about an hour

He heard Ron curse, probably upset about the place too.

Then his head hit Ron's back, who had suddenly stopped "Yeah, the same thing happened to me with Zabini" he heard him say, patting his shoulder

"What's wrong, why did we stop?" Harry muttered in confusion, walking to where Hermione was standing in front of a huge dark cave.

"Damn, I was right" Harry was surprised to hear Hermione curse as she bit her thumb and wandered a bit from one place to another

"What is it?" Zabini asked, taking out his wand

"Something very annoying that we needed our wands ready to use" Hermione agreed, also taking her wand out of her leather shoulder holster from inside her trench coat

She pointed her wand at the cave _"Revelio"_ murmured and the huge stone that covered it opened on both sides, leaving the path uncovered _"Lumos"_ and the tip of her wand lit up

Hermione walked inside her with determined steps _"Lumos"_ she heard also say to Harry and Zabini while they followed her

"Are we going to walk inside just like that?" Ron again complained scared "What if there are spiders?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, tired of hearing him complain "Shut up Ron, if you do not want to come inside then just go back to the ministry"

Ron snorted with frustration, taking his wand in his hand _"Lumos"_ he said and started walking with fearful steps "I do not-I'm not afraid if that's what you think" he tried to respond with courage but the tremor in his voice gave him away

"Of course you are not," Zabini replied sarcastically

Ron ignored him, still worried about the darkness of the place

What if there were Acromantulas?

"There are no Acromantulas in this place" Hermione replied suddenly, how did she know what he was thinking? "They would not be exposed to the creatures that are here"

Ron opened his eyes more scared than before

What kind of creature frightened the acromantulas other than the Basilisk?

"What kind of creatures are we looking for?" Harry asked

Then Hermione's foot suddenly sank into the water, only a few inches, completely wetting the boots she wore

"We are here" Hermione sighed

"I do not see anything" Zabini said, suddenly, his leg was thrown from under the water, submerging it towards the deepest waters

"Zabini!" Harry yelled

Then, from the water began to come out corpses, dead bodies that had been bewitched by the dark art of necromancy "those are Inferi" Harry said stunned

"Oh, for Merlin's beards!" cried terrified Ron, as he pulled away one with a swipe of his wand

The last time he had seen one of these was in the Horcrux cave

And the last time, Albus Dumbledore had saved him from them

But Dumbledore was not here anymore to do it

" _Protego Diabolica"_ He heard Hermione murmur to his side, then with her wand she pointed the whole place around them, conjuring a ring of blue fire that grew every second more, incinerating all the Inferi who touched it completely

Even burning all the water "Wait, Zabini is still there!" Harry tried to deprive Hermione of her spell that seemed to transcend beneath the water "He will burn!"

Hermione ignored him for a few more seconds but pushed her wand away from the flames. "Hermione?" he tried to call her

Why was not she listening to him?

Was she trying to kill Zabini?

Then they heard a loud noise, it was the deep voice of Zabini who tried to take a breath since his head finally came out of the water

Harry looked surprised as Zabini swam to get out of the water from the flames, without them doing any harm

Ron extended a hand to Zabini to help him out, both of them looking just as bewildered as he was.

What kind of spell was that?

Hermione definitely needed to teach him how to do it

"Too much adventure for you Zabini?" Hermione raises an eyebrow

"What was that?!" he asked excitedly "¡Amazing!" he praised her despite almost drowned

Harry wanted to know too

Hermione's jovial attitude darkened softly "Something you should not do"

The remnants of the flames suddenly went out with a strong blow of wind, darkening the place almost completely again, except for Ron's wand "We have not finished yet," said Zabini, _"Accio wand"_ He summoned it with his right hand, trembling slightly when the cold began to become more intense

From the top of the cave, a lot of well-known gliding and wraith-like dark creature descended towards them

"Dementors" Ron said as the other three pointed their wands at them

" _Expecto Patronum"_ it was Harry's turn first as he struck with his stag a pair of Dementors away from them

" _Expecto Patronum"_ Zabini said while his wand released a Black Stallion patronus

With one hand, Tzeentch completely burned several Dementors who tried to approach Hermione, realizing she seemed to hesitate for a moment "Móðolfr" he called her

Hermione raised her wand to two who were heading towards her _"Expecto Patronum"_ she said with decision as out of her wand began to form the figure of a creature

But it was not an otter

"For Morgan, not you too" Hermione silently cried her loss, her heart squeezed regretfully inside her chest

A Corporeal Thestral patronus pounced on the Dementors in front of her

Even her otter no longer belonged to her

What more did she have to lose now?

"Granger!" Zabini tried to make her react

 _"Expecto Patronum"_ Ron moved away with his patronus other Dementors as well

"Móðolfr, there is no point crying for what is already lost" reproached Tzeentch, making ashes other Dementors

He was right, she did not have time to feel sorry for herself; this was a dangerous place where anyone could die if they made a mistake

Although she was still a little bewildered to see a thestral as her patronus, she raised her wand up again, summoning it again _"Expecto Patronum"_

Unfortunately it was not enough, hundreds of other Dementors began to appear, probably all those who remained alive even after the war

Hermione knew, she had another option to disappear them all at once

She sighed, probably others would freaking out, but what the hell! "You all behind me!" she yelled at them to get their attention

"What?" Ron asked confused

"Just do it, hurry!" she shouted again Harry and Zabini looked at each other and followed Tzeentch, pulling Ron to do the same as them, stop invoking their patronus and standing a few paces behind Hermione

Immediately, the Dementors began to feed on them, their peace, their hope and their joy

Whatever Hermione had in mind, it was better that she did it now before the Dementors made them like them

Hermione retook air, calming her breath, closing her eyes and raising her wand again

Harry tried to listen the spell she would make, thinking that she might do the same thing she had done earlier with the Inferi.

But he was wrong, he did not even hear her say a word

Instead of the blue flames from before, a red and demonic fire came out of Hermione's wand, followed by a loud roar

"¡Hermione!" Harry was now the one who was shocked that she used such a dangerous curse with them inside the place

Had not Hermione been the one who had refused to use Fiendfyre before because it was too dangerous and unstable?

"¡I Know!" Hermione replied

"Then why? The old Hermione that I know would not do something irresponsible like this" Harry reproached

Hermione took her wand with both hands "With the time people change Harry and the old ways, serve us no longer" She looked at him a second before returning her attention to the immensely powerful fire in front of her. "Get them out of here Tzeentch, I'll finish this on my own!" She shouted at the elf

"What? No way!" Harry yelled back "Hermione you can die!" He tried to make her come to her senses while in agony he tried to hold back his tears

Refusing to lose her again

"Do it now before the fire gets bigger!" It was Hermione's order again

Tzeentch nodded, grabbing Harry and Ron's shoulders while Zabini grabbed Harry's wrist and the four appeared outside the cave

Harry freed himself furiously from Tzeentch, trying to re-enter but Tzeentch appeared some magical ropes with which he tied him. With another click he closed his mouth to keep Harry from screaming

The deadly fire started to come out of the cave, scaring Ron who took a few more steps away

A loud roar, followed by a gigantic chimera made of fire came out, rising towards the sky where it then began to gradually disappear

After that, everything was quiet

Only the desperate sounds Harry made to break free were heard

Zabini and Ron looked into the cave, waiting for something to happen

And it happened, she came out from inside the cave.

Filled with ashes, even in her hair. A very dirty and partially wet Hermione appeared, wearing a shy smile towards them while she shook her wand and then put it inside her leather shoulder Holster

"A true adventure undoubtedly Granger" Zabini commented, relieved that the madness inside the cave had finally ended.

She laughed lightly

Tzeentch gave another snap and Hermione's clothes were fixed, returning to look as impeccably neat as before they left the ministry. Looking down, she found Harry tied on the floor. She then looked at the elf with a silent question mark her face.

"He tried to enter again" He answered simply

Hermione opened her mouth, trying to replicate

Then they heard a loud sound in the sky, followed by a bright flash that spread over the clouds

In a bright green colour, the dark mark appeared

"A Death Eater" Zabini said, his hand was raised in the sky, pointing to the trail of the curse "It comes from among those trees" was not a good way to see it completely, but they could probably follow it while the trail was still visible

"Come on," Hermione ordered again, taking out her wand again, she disappeared.

"How will we know where she went to?" Ron asked confused.

Tzeentch unleashed Harry "Take your hands" he took Zabini's arm and appeared them in the same place where Hermione was

A few meters from Hagrid's house while she pointed a wand at a man in front of her

"Asking for help? Something very inappropriate of you Mudblood. As my father told me, going on your own always made you an easy prey" The man mocked

Hermione narrowed her eyes, something about his words became very familiar

Then, just a couple of seconds, she understood "You're Avery's son" she confirmed

The grip on the Death Eater's wand tightened even more. "The pureblood man you murdered"

Hermione's grip on her wand also became stronger

The two men behind her were her dilemma

"Did you kill Avery?" Harry blinked in surprise.

Ron gasp at his side

The Death Eater laughed "Not so innocent, right? Miss war heroine"

Hermione tensed even more. "No one who has been part of a war is innocent." Her gaze for a moment turned to Harry. "He was the one who killed my parents, he took the werewolf to their house and tried to kill me" she tried to explain

Harry seemed more confused by that explanation because when the Aurors went to investigate the place there was nothing but the werewolf, then…

What had Hermione done with Avery's body?

"Yes, and you should have been an easy prey and just die that day, because you will die, now!" He cast a spell on her, which was easily avoided by a slight movement of Hermione _"Crucio"_

Before the curse hit her, Tzeentch stood in front of her, summoning a golden shield that caused the spell to return to him.

The Death Eater shouted at the intense pain that dared his entire body

Hermione looked at him as he trembled on the floor, deciding what to do with him, then, she raised her wand _"Petrificus Totalus"_ Then, the curse hardened her limbs, to prevent him from moving again.

Ignoring the Death Eater now, she turned her head back "Thanks Tzeentch, I do not know what I would do without you" she gently patted his shoulder. The view of her then went to the other three "We should take him to the ministry to interrogate him" she said, referring to Avery who was standing on the floor with his eyes open, looking everywhere.

"I think he has said enough for now," Harry cut her off. Hermione looked at him, waiting for him to finish speaking. "What did you do with Avery's body the day you were in Australia?" The doubt was killing him, he hoped it was not something bad

The doubt in Hermione's eyes was reflected, just for a few seconds before returning to a serious expression "The same as the Dementors, Fiendfyre, at least just enough to disappear the body" she answered honestly

"Why would you want to disappear his body?" Ron asked horrified

"I did not want to see his nasty face for another second" she murmured tense

The death of her parents was a very unpleasant subject for her. Moreover, the man who murdered them and tried to kill her also

Harry saw her discomfort, no one could blame her for doing what she did "Fiendfyre is a too dangerous curse Hermione, you said it yourself" but even so he rebuked her

"I learned how to control it, thank you very much" She reproached back to him

Harry frowned but he did not say anything else

"And what was that creature coming out of the fire? A lion? I'm going to throw up if it's something about you little weird Gryffindors" It was Zabini's comment, while pretending a pair of retching sounds

Hermione smiled, appreciating his way of comforting her "It's a Chimaera, a creature with a lion's head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail" She answered in her best know-it-all voice

"Do you know everything? How is it she knows everything?" Ron muttered more to himself than to others

Hermione rolled her eyes "Let's get out of here" she walked to the body lying on the ground, being followed by the others. On one knee, she took Avery from his wrist while her other hand took Tzeentch's "Come on ladies, this needs to be done today," she told Ron and Zabini who looked at each other with displeasure, refusing to hold hands.

Upon hearing Hermione's complaints they had to do it one more time reluctantly.

.

.

Appearing again at the Aurors office. The place was empty, the Aurors probably in the places of the crime scenes

"I will take Avery with Kingsley, probably we will be able to question him until tomorrow" Said Zabini levitating the body of the ground, turning to Hermione "You should go home now Granger, tomorrow will be a long day trying to make Avery talk, besides we can no longer do anything for today" he patted her shoulder

"You're right, thank you Zabini" she nodded her head

"Take Weasley and Potter with you, I've seen them enough for today" he shook his head

She laughed "I'll do it, I'll give you the break you need"

He nodded "See you tomorrow" he said goodbye, leaving the place with Avery floating behind him

When Zabini was out of sight, Harry was the first to speak. "Are we going home then?" He asked Hermione excitedly.

"Yes, I have a couple of things to occupy me there" Hermione explained

Her words killed all hope in Harry, since she would probably lock herself in her room

"I'm hungry, we have not eaten anything since this morning and it's almost night" Ron said rubbing his stomach

"Ron is right" Harry agreed "We can go home, while you take care of the things you should do, I can prepare something to eat for all of us" Harry tried to convince her

Hermione looked at Tzeentch seeing that he was nodding "Okay, let's go home then" she took Tzeentch's hand and then she held out her hand to Harry

Harry smiled at her as he took his hand and then Ron's

They disappeared after that without any other word

.

.

"I'll go up the room to take a rest Móðolfr" was what Tzeentch said after a while they were in the Drawing room inside Grimmauld Place, She looked at him and they both had a silent discussion about leaving her alone with Harry, after Ron had retired to sleep as well.

"Good night, Tzeentch," Harry said, unaware of that.

Tzeentch looked at him seriously for a while before nodding "Good night Harry Potter" and then disappeared

Hermione really expected Tzeentch to go to sleep, he needed it; he had not slept well for the last three months

"Does he hate me?" Harry suddenly asked.

Hermione came out of her thoughts, looking at him "No, he doesn't" she answered

"He always seems to be examining me with his stern, rather intimidating look" Harry commented, playing with the cup of tea between his hands.

"He's just trying to judge you, he does that with everyone," she explained.

That answer intrigued him. "Did he do that with you?" Harry asked, hoping she did not try to put herself on the defensive and flee

"I guess the first time he saw me he did it, although I'm not sure" she shrugged

Again, there was an uncomfortable silence

One that Harry could not stand for a longer "Why did your Patronus change?" The question ruminated his mind from the problems they had this afternoon

That darkened Hermione's mood even more "I do not know exactly, the last time I did it, the otter was there nine years ago, after that I didn't have to do it until today, besides, I had to change my wand, it could also be one of the reasons"

Harry frowned. "Did you change your wand?" He asked confused. "Why?" He had not noticed the change of her wand, well, he had not paid attention to the wand at all

"It broke" Hermione looked at him "The day I met Tzeentch he was under a strong curse, turned into a stone. I knew a couple of breaks curses and I did it, unfortunately, my wand could not stand it and it exploded" Hermione's gaze went down to her right hand, where there were a couple of scars, Harry looked at them too, probably the cuts were from the pieces of the wand. "I had to buy a new one, but it was different. The length of the wand and the wood were the same as the previous one but the new one had a different nucleus "seemed anguished

"What kind of nucleus?"

She closed her eyes as she let out a trembling sigh "Thestral Tail Hair"

Had she said what he thought she had said? "Thestral Tail Hair?" he asked again, he needed a confirmation, he could not believe what he had heard

It was well known that there was only one wand with that type of nucleus

"I know what you're thinking, Elder's wand had the same core" Hermione cut his dilemma

"And you have an equal" He pointed

"The wood is different" she tried to find an excuse

"Hermione ..." Harry started "That wand can be very dangerous" he took her hands in his "I'm very worried about you, I do not want anything bad to happen to you, I have been deadly worried during all these years you left, not knowing if you were fine, if something bad had happened to you, _it was a torture_ " his voice trembled, looking at her he could see tears in her eyes, and because of the blur of his own sight, he probably had them too "And now that I have you here with me…" closing his eyes tightly, he swallowed the knot that formed in his throat "To know how useless I am to you, to know that I could not protect you even for a day like today that Avery tried to use the cruciatus curse on you... it's a torture much worse"

"Harry" She felt sorry for his words, she did not want to give him trouble, and without realizing it, she was doing it. She let go of his hands, ignoring the rejection she saw in his eyes "I left because I needed to stand up for myself, to learn to defend myself, because after the war and the death of my parents I understood that the world would not become a better place with the death of Voldemort" she paused "Calmer perhaps, but not for that reason the danger would disappear and I needed to be prepared to face it if someday I had to do it, just like today"

But her words only frustrated him more. He gave an annoyed snort "I do not understand Hermione, All these years to flee from here just to learn to defend yourself? Hermione, for Merlin, you saved the world!"

She could not help but smile at the irony of his words, making him frown more, thinking that she was mocking him. "You have me in too confused an esteem, Harry" She shook her head

"What, what do you mean?" He asked confused

She looked at him, her steady, penetrating gaze came to bother him. A little reminded him of Tzeentch "I didn't do all that to save the world" Of course she didn't, the wizards, at least a large part of them didn't deserve to be saved, the bloody pure-blood supremacists "I did it to save you, so you would be happy and live" she confessed

Her statement made Harry's heart beat painfully in his chest, if she had done so much to make him happy, then why had she left him after that? He refused to believe her words "Anyway, I do not understand. You did and knew what to do during the war, do not you think that was enough? What else did you have to learn all these years away?" There was nothing Hermione could not learn on her own from the books, why go so far?

"Not everything" She shook her head "The war only taught me to defend myself for a short time, look for advantages and the books to counterattack them" She tensed. "But my mind was very unstable, I made many mistakes. I needed a place where I could learn to stop being so weak, where I had someone to help me correct them with ideas different from mine. Learn not to give them the opportunity to have any predominance over me"

"I still don't understand" Harry said lost

Her words seemed to annoy Hermione, who looked at him harshly. "If you don't understand, then you didn't really know me"

And that angered Harry who got up from the couch, annoyed by her cruel words, walking around the same place in front of her "So you're saying that by not accepting the fact you had a good reason to leave that makes me an incompetent friend, someone who never knew you? Because I can't understand your motives?" He narrowed his eyes at her, challenging her to dare to repeat her words. Stopping his walk

She raised an eyebrow, trying not to madden with him "You can't, or you won't?" she threw him in his face, he opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off "And just because I did not want to stay in this place seeing others pity me while I spent my time witnessing people crying over the dead people they loved does not mean that I just ran away" she stood up, her anger had grown and she refused to let him yell at her as if he was right about her. "I took my time in something profitable, did you do it Harry?" She challenged him

"I graduated from Hogwarts, did you do it, Hermione?" Harry hissed

That had been a misplaced comment, very inappropriate "I graduated, not at Hogwarts but I did it if you died to find out" she answered

That revelation was a surprise for Harry "Where did you graduate?" He could not help but ask

Hermione straightened up, lifting her chin with insolence "Durmstrang"

Harry blinked "Durmstrang?"

Was not that College very selective with the purity of Blood?

"The only good thing that the war brought me was to be such an invaluable heroine I was allowed to study there despite being a _Mudblood"_ She replied sarcastic "Victor helped me, talking with the Headmaster, my stay there was quite clandestine for people outside there" she added before seeing his perplexed look

"Krum?" He asked foolishly

She crossed her arms "What other Victor could be but him?"

"Of course it had to be Victor Krum" Harry muttered in a bad way

Harry could not hate Victor Krum any more than at that moment, after all, when he was still playing Quidditch, he had gone to watch him play, they had talked like old friends, but Victor had never mentioned Hermione, which now made sense if he was helping her hide "You studied Dark Arts there" that was a more disturbing realization. Especially with the behaviour she had today

She tensed again. "Anything else to reproach me now, Potter?"

The way she called him that way made him cringe. "Hermione please, I need you to understand me" He tried to calm her down

But she was not taking any of that, without any reassurance she added "The only thing I understand Harry, is with that kind of thoughts this case will be more impossible for you with me here than before my arrival" She sighed, trying to contain her temperament "We have both changed, you need to understand that" She tried to make him see reason "And at this point I think if we want to be friends yet, it will be better to keep our distance"

"Hermione ..." He tried to find the right words "Is there something wrong with wanting some peace in my life? Of wanting to leave everyone aside, not to remain so worried around me"

She seemed to think about his words for a second and then shook her head "There is, leaving so many Death Eaters out there who would not hesitate to go after us, probably kill someone else because of us, and if you can't understand Harry, then I pity you because eventually you will suffer" She saw him trying to answer again and she raised a hand for him to keep silent once more "Do you know Harry? It is because of this kind of thinking that I stop trusting you. Good night, Harry" Hermione said sadly and went upstairs without letting him replicate anymore

He had nothing more to say anyway

Harry heard the door whipping as more hot tears ran down his cheeks, after all, there was nothing he hated more than fighting with Hermione. But he could not help it, he needed to protect Hermione, without her, there was nothing left for him. His happiness had gone with her eleven years ago and he was desperate to have her back

Taking off his glasses, he wiped the tears from his eyes. He was not good at getting the women in his life to stay by his side for long

Ginny had only stayed with him for three months. Although he could not blame her, he had only thought of finding Hermione and she had ended up getting annoyed at being ignored by him. No one should endure the rejection he had with her.

Sighing, Harry got up from the couch

The best thing he could do now was go to sleep, tomorrow he could think what to do with his mind clear, he tried to console himself, He went up to his room, but not before taking a quick look at Hermione's room before crossing the corridor to his door.

.

.

.

Hermione entered the room in her suitcase that she knew very well. It was a cold and empty room, the only thing that lay inside was a magical circle she had made with ancient runes, over which a large armillary sphere was floating, to which she had surrounded several impenetrable spells, some dark and powerful. Inside the sphere there was another one made of crystal, one she had specially made, to catch something inside.

More precisely, _An Obscurus_

A dark and parasitic energy

Hermione looked at it closely, every detail of it, to which Tzeentch always referred like a Wolf pit, this kind of magic field she had made for the Obscurus. But now there was a problem "It's breaking" she pointed seriously "It's getting stronger" She sighed. She had been trying to control it for nine years and it was only getting worse. A disastrous possibility if she did not find a solution, it would be the Obscurus escaping, destroying London and she had to give an answer as to why she was carrying such a thing with her. "What should I do now?" She asked herself

But no answer came

Raising her hand, with a slight movement the crack of the crystal sphere was repaired. A solution that would not last long

Suddenly, she startled. While inside, the glass was struck with a dark hand formed from the Obscurus. And what ended up horrifying Hermione, leaving her frozen from her place was an eye forming inside, _looking at her_

.

.

 **Again.**

 **Thanks for reading, you can comment if you want**

 **-Raitsuki141**


	4. Chapter 4: The Hanged Man

**Harry Potter does not belong to me (such a shame).**

 **For who is interested in knowing:**

 **1) My inspiration in the Dark Elf Tzeentch besides Norse mythology, was a story by the writer Sebastián Herrera, a Mexican author, his book entitled** _ **"Ogros, Gigantes, Trolls y otros seres Fantásticos y Mitológicos"**_ **("Ogres, Giants, Trolls and other Fantastic and Mythological beings".**

 **The Tale** _ **"La Balada del Elfo Triste"**_ **(The Ballad of the Sad Elf) where the elf Meldarion falls in love with a petrified elf princess on the mountain, Princess Limbairedhiel who had been bewitched by a wizard from the dark age named Olaf after she had rejected him, turning her into stone.**

 **In love Meldarion decides to stay with her in the mountain.**

 **One night Meldarion stayed next to her, the spell had been temporarily broken, giving the princess enough time after declaring the reciprocity of her love for him, explains to Meldarion the spell would not break until someone took her place while she find the Dark Wizard and say the name of the person she loved.**

 **He accepted, becoming Stone instead, but she didn't come back.**

 **The princess had forgotten him on her way down the mountain, all her memories about him were erased.** **The wizard Olaf had imposed it as well.**

 **So, my character Tzeentch, who ended up turned into stone in the same way, to then be rescued by Hermione.** **And he decided to spend the rest of his life, paying for the life debt.**

 **2) The Title of this chapter:** _ **"The Hanged Man"**_ **also refers to a Tarot Card, known as "The Traitor" often associated with the destruction of the self, letting go of wordly attachments and viewing things from a different perspective.**

 **Also, shares the name with The Muggle Pub in Little Hangleton where residents flocked there to gossip about the murdered of the entire Riddle family.**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope this chapter also likes you.**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

 **Chapter 4: The Hanged Man**

 **Level 1, Ministry of Magic, Whitehall, London**

Harry sighed as he closed Kingsley's office, the minister was in a bad mood, after capturing Avery the case had stalled, today was the fourth day he and his team of Aurors were questioning Avery, but he still refused to mutter a single word worthwhile. To make matters worse, from the day of his fight with Hermione, she refused to talk more than two syllables and almost didn't leave her room, with the excuse that she was looking for something important in the books she had in her suitcase.

He did not believe in her words, after all, how many books could she bring in that suitcase?

"What Kingsley told you?" Ron said approaching him suddenly, Harry looked at him, Ron was eating a slice of cake, or at least what was left of it

"He wanted to know where Hermione was and why we had not managed to make Avery confess anything" Harry answered

"Did you tell him Hermione was locked in her room and the git of Avery just kept mocking us?" Ron took his wand, casting a spell to clean himself

"I just talked about Avery, I don't think Kingsley would like to hear how I managed to scare Hermione into getting stuck inside her room," he muttered reluctantly.

"Who do you say is stuck in her room?" Someone asked next to them

They both started "Hermione" Harry looked at her surprised

"I told you I was looking for something important, I was not wasting my time," Hermione said to Harry in a stern voice.

He lowered his distressed look "I-I did not want to" he tried to justify himself

"It doesn't matter" she cut him

Ron could see the tension between them "So ... Where is Tzeentch?" He tried to lighten the situation

"I sent him to do something important" She replied shrugging

"I see" Ron, looked at her suspiciously

It was suspicious that the elf who was always attached to her would have left like that.

Arranging the button on her white long-sleeved shirt "I'm going to interrogate Avery," she said suddenly, attracting interest from them

"Why you?" Ron asked "We've already tried it but the berk is just not going to talk" she looked at her as if she was a nutter

"I have my ways" She smiled at him, something that made Ron tremble with a little fear, Hermione had always been a partially terrifying witch "I'll take Cadogan's Pony"

Ron rolled his eyes "Of course, as if we had just wasted time with him" he said sarcastic

Hermione raised an eyebrow "I'm not saying that Ronald" then she noticed a stain on Ron's sleeve, taking out her wand muttered a spell to clean it up "I'm saying that Avery will talk to me because he loses his temper just by looking at me, in case it got out of your mind, he hates me" she pointed, giving Harry a quick look, waiting for him to fight with her too "Something will slip from his mouth"

"Aye" Harry nodded

She smiled at him, almost grateful for his support, "Then I'm leaving" turning on her Stafford boots "You shouldn't eat during working hours if you do not know how to do a simple cleaning spell Ron" was the last thing she said before leaving them there

"She has really become more know-it-all as the years go by" Ron shook his head "Here, Dawlish asked me to give you this" he put some papers in Harry's hands "John Dawlish?" Harry narrowed his eyes. What did that old Auror have to give him? He leafed through the papers in his hands. And he blinked to see that it was Hermione's personal background.

What was Dawlish doing with this?

"Didn't he tell you why these were for me?" He asked Ron

Ron looked at him confused. "He said Kingsley asked him to give them to you after you forgot them in his office" A strange but believable story if it was not because Kingsley had sent for him with Zabini and he had not said anything about these papers. "Why, is there something wrong?" Ron held up the first sheet of paper just to see Hermione's face and some information of Hermione written there "Is this Hermione's?" Ron was surprised, as he opened them with more confidence. The most outstanding thing was the photography and the personal stamp of M.A.C.U.S.A. covering half of the sheet.

Harry nodded, closing the papers again "But we can't see them here, this is something Kingsley had kept confidential, only you and I were authorized to see them apart from him"

Ron frowned. "Then why would he give them to Dawlish?" Harry raised both eyebrows and Ron understood the gesture "Are you saying... that Dawlish took them without authorization?"

"Exactly" Harry agreed

"But, why would Dawlish want them?" He still didn't understand

"Ron..." Harry sighed, trying to be a little more patient with his clueless friend "Dawlish is probably an informer of the Death Eaters"

Ron was horrified "Blimey! That couldn't be good for us or Hermione"

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his comment "Where is Dawlish now?"

"He went home, he gave me the papers and said he would go home, his hours ended today"

Harry sighed again "We can't find out anything about him for today, we still have to stay here to know what Hermione talked to Avery"

"What about seeing those papers?" Ron proposed, pointing to them

"It seems like a good idea" Harry nodded, being honest with himself, curiosity was killing him "But it must be in a place where nobody sees us"

"The Aurors office was empty, everyone went back to the scenes of the crimes on Hermione's orders; we can go there"

"Let's go then"

They advanced, no more than a couple of steps before Zabini called them, in front of them, running to catch up with them, trying to get some air back. "Granger says it's time to leave" was Zabini's only sentence, before run to the same place where he came "Quick, we do not have much time!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other confused before running to the same place as Zabini.

.

 **Twenty Minutes Before, Level Two of the Ministry of Magic, Auror Headquarters, London**

Hermione entered the interrogation cell, Avery was sitting in one of the two desk chairs. This room reminded her of M.A.C.U.S.A. A dark room with four clean walls without windows and a desk with a seat for two. She looked at Avery who didn't look up, his eyes seemed to carefully examine his hands in his lap; she took a seat in front of him "Were you waiting for me?" She asked with Irony

Avery then raised his gaze to laugh in her face "You are so cheeked, Mudblood" he tried to move his hands behind his back with another vain attempt to break the cuffs that restricted his magic

"Deliverance Dane" Hermione rolled her eyes "Why do not you just tell me what I need to know and we end up seeing each other's faces?" She asked tired of hearing the same pathetic insults of the Death Eaters

He snorted "Do you think I'll tell you something disgusting Mudblood?" then he added "Besides, "What makes you think I did not do all this? You deserve it for the death of my father, carry in your weak mind the death of those bleeders"

"We are talking about creating Inferi here, to reanimate even a body needs intelligence and power, and you are not exactly an intelligent or powerful Death Eater" She couldn't help but smile at the look of anger he directed at her, but she needed to push him further so he would break. "Which is not a surprise for someone who chose a cave full of creatures to take advantage and appear thinking you could kill me"

And it worked, he got up angry from the chair, only to be brought back to his place by the bewitched chair he was sitting "What did you expect? A Mudblood like you didn't deserve anything better, or did you expect to die in a sacred place like Riddle Manor?" He scoffed

She waited, and she heard him writhe in pain as a thin stream of fire like a red-hot wire began to burn his hands and part of his arm

Hermione cocked her head "Riddle Manor?" She almost patted her shoulder to herself for such a good job "Could not you find a more original place to hide?" She asked

Again the sensation of burning grew up to his shoulders, where the weaving of the unbreakable vow could be seen more clearly. Then, something in the attitude in him changed, his terrible and sadistic sense of humour went away while his look became serious almost involuntarily, his face was sweating. Hermione supposed that enduring pain was not very good for him "He thinks you're the threat, I don't know why he's taking so much trouble with something like you but, he's waiting for you to go to Little Hangleton" The suffering finally disappeared then. He lowered his head, tired and aching

Hermione shook her head, probably the person who wanted her to go to Little Hangleton had not trusted Avery to be able to give that message of his own free will. Even so, an unbreakable vow was bit rich to do just that, even for a Death Eater "If you were going to tell me anyway, you should not let the unbreakable vote begin its course"

He frowned though he did not look up, humbled by her pity "Shut it and get out, I don't want to see your nasty face anymore near me again unless you're dead"

Hermione stood up "Have a good life in Azkaban, Avery" and she left the interrogation cell. Not waiting for him to produce any more words

Out to her surprise, only Zabini was waiting for her, leaning on the second floor railing "Where is Harry and Ron?" Was the first thing she asked

"Probably codswallop"

"Can you please go find them?" She rolled her eyes at the veracity of Zabini's words "I'll go for a couple of things and I'll see you in Auror's office"

Zabini straightened "Of course, boss, I'll bring that pair of nutters as fast as I can"

"Thank you." She nodded and looked Zabini as he ran down the hall "Who would thought Zabini could be so childish?" She shook her head

She walked to the Aurors office, stopping in her cubicle. She put on her trenchcoat again, the one she had left on the back of the chair when she had just arrived at the ministry, then after muttering a spell on her briefcase it opened _"Accio ring"_ she said with her hand on it. It would take a long time to find her ring because of the Undetectable Extension Charm she had placed on the briefcase as well. Checking the pockets of her trenchcoat, she tried to see nothing was missing her not because someone had taken something from her things because it was impossible with the curses she had placed on it, but because she sometimes moved her things and forgot where they were.

Something started to move in the right pocket of her trenchcoat, she opened it slightly with her hand, looking inside "Isos, what are you doing here?" she asked confused. She remembered leaving it in her suitcase this morning, the little puppy came out of hiding, playing around with the papers from her desk. "Tzeentch" she closed her eyes as she sighed. Tzeentch had probably put it there after she had sent him to Iceland this morning, probably for her safety "He can be so overprotective sometimes" she rolled her eyes

The door opened and Zabini came through the door "We are here" he said panting and seconds later, behind him came Harry and Ron

"Blimey Hermione! Why so hurry?" Ron complained, taking a bit of the air he had lost from running too much

"I talked to Avery" Hermione crossed her arms

"So?" Harry encouraged her to continue as he sat in a cubicle next to her, trying to rest

"Probably nothing like us" Ron smiled

"He did it" she replied, surprising two of the three men in front of her

"Really?" Was Harry

"He had no choice" she sighed "He had an unbreakable vow to fulfil"

Zabini narrowed his eyes "An unbreakable vow just to deliver a message? Is not that too much?"

"Innit" she raised an eyebrow "Apparently my mysterious fan expects me to go to Little Hangleton, thinks that I am a threat and hopes to get rid of me in that place" she confessed calmly

"Little Hangleton, why there?" Ron asked confused

"Riddle Manor" Harry answered seriously

"Exactly" Hermione smiled at Harry's insight

"Oh" Ron understood then "So ... you want to go there because a Death Eater told you to go?" He asked her as if even the single question was too stupid to consider

"I'll go to Little Hangleton" she sentenced

"Hermione" Harry tried to reply, without making her defensive "You said yourself they want to kill you"

"Mercy Lewis Harry" She rolled her eyes, frustrated by his logic "What Death Eater is not trying to kill us? Not just me "she pointed out to them too

"But they think you are the threat" was Zabini

"Not you too Zabini" she massaged her temples "Okay, apparently you do not understand what's going on here" she sighed "Avery was caught in an unbreakable vow"

"So ..." Zabini indicated with a wave of his hand for her to continue

"So to make that kind of magical binding contract must be issued between two parts and a third to act as a witness. Which points out that Avery was one of those two people, which leaves us..." She raised both of her eyebrows at the three of them, hoping a little Arithmancy would stay in their little narrow minds

"Those who are in Little Hangleton are two Death Eaters," Harry pointed out.

Hermione nodded "Now, an Inferi is a very difficult creature to reanimate. It takes a very powerful wizard for them to feed off the magical energy, something impossible to do from any Death Eater that I know, so they are only using what was already there, that's why they have not changed places to kill wizards"

Harry crossed his arms, looking at nothing in particular as he thought of her words "They are remnants of the army that Voldemort created and they are only using them for their purposes"

"But, if they are not their masters, they could not dominate them then they would probably end up dead too and it would not do much good, without Voldemort the Inferi will eventually die, it's just a lazy killing that would not lead them to gain anything" Zabini cut their theory

"Not if their sole purpose was to guide me to them" Hermione shook her head "Probably they just left or made the wizards come to the place, then the Inferi would do all the work"

Ron frowned. "Why you?"

She sighed "Before being part of M.A.C.U.S.A. I used to travel to different places to learn or search for some artefact that would get my attention. My first trip was to China, a small province where I read were a couple of amulets of my interest" She looked at them, her story seemed to be called to their curiosity "After two months of searching I realized I was being followed by a Death Eater, Rodolphus Lestrange"

"Rodolphus Lestrange?" Ron blinked.

"I attacked him and when my spell hit his chest he fell to a cliff" She explained

"Is he dead?" Harry asked.

She smiled with Irony "No, down there was a lot of water and when I looked down, Greyback was pulling him out of the water, they disappeared later"

"So the killers we're looking for are Rodolphus Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback," Zabini said.

"Probably not two since his brother Rabastan is also a fugitive," Harry commented

"So what is the plan now?" Ron raised an eyebrow, expecting another stubborn comment from Hermione.

"We'll go to Little Hangleton of course" She answered

"All of us?" Ron asked again

"Yes" she crossed her arms "Unless you want to stay?"

"I will go" Ron said decided

She smiled "Okay, Isos will go with us too" pointed to the dog who was still breaking some of the papers on her desk

"Blimey Hermione! Why your bloody dog will go with us?" Ron asked disgusted

The little puppy stopped breaking the papers, almost as if he had heard and understood what Ron had said, he looked at him growling "You should be a little kinder to him, Ronald since he will be our last chance if something goes wrong"

"What kind of magic animal is it? I had never seen any similar one, looks like a black Pygmy Puff" Zabini approached the puppy but immediately tried to put a hand on him a small explosion of fire came out of the muzzle, Zabini stepped back in surprise, shaking his hand to put out the fire in his sleeve

Hermione took the puppy in her hands "I'm sorry, Isos is always very cautious with strangers who try to touch him, he didn't try to hurt you, just scare you a little" the puppy then appeared on her shoulder, playing with some curly strands of her hair "He is an illegally created hybrid I rescued on Iceland, something I thought you knew" she raised an eyebrow at Zabini

"I found out about the problem of the Ban on Experimental Breeding in Iceland, I also knew you had a strange pet that could disappear" He checked his hand and as she had said, there was no harm, it was just a warning fire "I did not know It could do this too"

"Well, from what I saw in that man's house" she turned her head to her left shoulder, Isos looked at her and licked her cheek "Some creatures he used to create Isos could be a Pukwudgie, Komainu, Crup, Pygmy Puff, Demiguise and Black Shuck" She looked at the perplexed face of Ron and Zabini, Harry seemed just a little lost with her description

"What the hell was he trying to do? A creature like that…" Ron shook his head while an unpleasant chill ran through him.

"Probably nothing good," Hermione agreed. "Luckily I rescued Isos being a puppy before he started training him. It also helped a lot that Isos took only the skills but not the behaviour of the most dangerous creatures or it would have been impossible to tame"

"What is a Pukwudgie?" Harry asked confused, he had never heard anyone name that creature

"It's an American creature." It was Ron, probably answering Harry's silent question about why he had never heard of it.

Zabini placed a hand on his chin, thinking and speaking aloud "The Pukwudgies are short, gray and big-eared creatures. One could say they are a relative a little distant with the European goblin, they are independent; they enjoy hunting with their poisonous arrows and playing tricks on humans. Think they should not help humankind so they are not too fond of wizards or muggles. They are exceptionally dangerous and secret to themselves" he sighed, crossing his arms "Granger is right, it was good the hairball will not take out its behaviour"

"What about the Black Shuck?" Harry asked again

"It's like a Grim but it can make thunderstorms" was the simple explanation of Ron

Hermione smiled at the correctness of the answer, Ron could sometimes surprise her "Komainu?" Harry asked again

"Honestly Harry" Hermione rolled her eyes "Don't you know anything about magic creatures?"

Harry ran a hand behind his neck, embarrassed "Not really"

Hermione sighed, taking her briefcase and placing it over her shoulder "We must leave before nightfall, take your belongings" She ordered, looking at Zabini and Ron who immediately obeyed her, going to their cubicles they took their trenchcoats. Harry blinked, confused, waiting for her to answer his question "Harry, are you ready to go?" Hermione pulled him out of his thoughts as she grabbed Isos and put it inside the pocket of her trenchcoat

"Ah ... yeah" he took his wand from his desk, putting it in his pants holster

She looked for something in the inside pocket of her trenchcoat

"Without Tzeentch here we must leave the ministry the old way" Ron lamented

"Not exactly," said Hermione, taking out a small dark blue sphere

"What is that?" Zabini raised an eyebrow. The strange sphere seemed to be surrounded by constellations

"A Celestial Globe" replied Hermione. Closing her eyes, she murmured a spell in what Zabini supposed was ancient Nordic, then the sphere was surrounded by a golden magic trail "Hold hands" she took Harry's while her other hand was taking the globe. Once she saw Ron and Blaze finally holding hands _"Finna"_ she murmured, and they disappeared from the office.

.

 **Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, England, Great Britain**

Harry looked at the house in front of him once they appeared, letting go of Hermione's hand. Gone was the beautiful manor house surrounded by a wide expanse of green and velvety grass he had seen in Dumbledore Pensieve. Now, with some of its windows with boards, missing tiles in the roof and ivy spread beyond control that almost reached his face, the abandoned and unoccupied house was still a great terror in magical London.

Hermione took her wand from its holster _"Appare Vestigium"_ She walked a couple of steps in a straight line, her wand was illuminated in a golden colour, leaving traces of magical activity, magical traces and marks of footprints in the area. On the right side of the Manor.

She stuck her wand on the floor, showing then a magical silhouette of a tall, thin wizard "Rodolphus Lestrange" said Zabini arriving next to her

"Yes" she watched as behind him another wizard smiled sadistic while he casting a spell

"Rabastan Lestrange" Harry said now from the other side of Zabini, the dark mark formed up in the sky in a golden tone by the spell of Hermione, seconds later, the trail disappeared, the sky slightly dark again and without any skull on it.

She took her wand that was still standing on the floor "Come on" she walked to the right side of the manor, where the magic trail had appeared.

On that side, a stone wall was visible in the Little Hangleton valley county. Turning back to the road, Hermione's footsteps slowed when her eyes caught a glimpse of a strange glow on the floor, but with all the ivy blocking most of her sight it was hard to say "It's already night" Ron stepped forward

"It will be harder to be here in this darkness" Zabini agreed passed by her side

"Is everything all right, Hermione?" Harry stood next to her, raising an eyebrow.

She narrowed her eyes "There is something strange on the floor, look" she pointed with her hand to the place where it was still shining slightly

"I can't see anything, what is it?" Harry lowered his gaze

Hermione sighed, of course he could not tell if it was a Magical trail or not, after all, she had specialized in this for all these years. "I think…" Her answer was cut with a loud noise, followed by another one almost at the same time. She looked sideways "Where are Ron and Zabini?"

"I don't know" Harry tried to look for them too. But when he took a step forward, he disappeared too.

Then she understood, pointing her wand to the ground _"Revelio"_ the bedazzling hex disappeared, showing a high rope that reached her knees crossing the path "A portkey" she shook her head. Without having another choice, she also walked forward to be transported to the same place as them.

Her feet touched the ground. But the feeling of traveling in Portkey was always downright unpleasant for her, causing slight nausea, she winced. An unexpected spell attacked her, but she blocked it with her wand easily "You've become more skilful since the last time we saw each other, Mudblood" Rodolphus Lestrange said walking towards her, his wand pointing at her "Unfortunately, you have no chance here" at the sides of him appeared Rabastan Lestrange holding Ron while his wand pointed at his throat and on the other side, Fenrir Greyback had Harry in the same way

"Where is Zabini?" She asked

Rodolphus rolled his eyes "That blood traitor, behind you" and she did it, without caring to turn her back on the Death Eaters in front of her. She frowned at Blaze's poor condition, his face and clothes covered with blood, fortunately he was still alive, and the tremor in his body, the repercussion of the cruciatus curse was proof of that. "Drop that crap and look at me!" Rodolphus yelled. She did it and he smiled pleased "I want to see your nasty face when you die in my hands"

"What makes you think I will die?" She asked seriously

"You're so cheeked" He laughed _"Crucio"_ the spell came out of his wand, but a blue shield in front of her stopped the impact. Everyone seemed dazed since it was not possible to avoid the Cruciatus Curse with a Shield Charm

"AH!" Rabastan shouted, releasing Ron who quickly pulled away from him. Everyone turned to see him while he took her arm, where a part was missing "Something has bitten me!" Turning his wand behind him, he could not see anything

"There's something there, I can smell it!" Greyback shouted

Then another attack, a pair of claws hit Rabastan's chest and blood flowed as a growl was heard.

Harry also freed himself from Fenrir, going to Hermione's side while dodged a spell from Fenrir towards him _"Accio Wand"_ he said, his hand pointed at Greyback's clothes, summoning it in his hand and then pointing at the werewolf

 _"Confringo"_ cast the spell Rodolphus after his brother but only blew a gravestone, the beast would not seem to be anywhere

"Get out of there, Ron!" Hermione shouted, but a claw hit him on his shoulder too, breaking his trenchcoat. Immediately he adjusted himself from the strong blow he ran in front of Zabini _"Accio Wand"_ Rabastan hardly noticed the wand was taken from his clothes since the strange creature attacked him again, knocking him down

"What is that?" Harry asked worriedly.

"A Hidebehind, a nocturnal beast that lives in the woods. It can change its shape, allowing it to hide behind almost any object. His prey of choice are humans" Hermione explained quickly "Isos!" she called it stretching her hand in front of her, the puppy came out of hiding showing up in her hand "I need you to track it" she ordered

The dog then appeared on a gravestone near the screams, howling at the wizards who were still trying to drive away the beast, Dark fuzz came out of its muzzle and the beast ceased to be invisible.

A tall thin bear with silver hair appeared in front of them, growling louder as he bit Rabastan's leg. "AGH!" He complained again in pain, seeing now the beast pointed at him with his wand, but with a claw he threw it a few meters away.

 _"Avada Kedavra"_ Rodolphus shouted, while the green flash of the murderous curse hit the Hidebehind, killing it. He turned to Hermione while Isos returned to her shoulder. He watched as she, and Potter pointed him together with their wands "Just a little longer Mudblood, we will see each other again" with his wand the three disappeared

Harry lowered his wand and sighed. Glancing sideways at the strange dead beast while Hermione ran to where Zabini was unconscious _"Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur…"_ heard her recite behind him. Harry approached the beast, finding part of a hand he assumed was from Rabastan Lestrange. Feeling a bit of nausea he stopped looking, returning to where Hermione and Ron were. The open wounds on Zabini's body were now closed, he frowned as Hermione gently stroked Zabini's face but let it fall when he saw as her hand travelled around the huge burn that covered much of his face disappeared.

"Where will we be?" Ron said looking around, the whole place was full of gravestones

The Little Hangleton graveyard "replied Harry

"How do you know?" Ron asked again

"Voldemort brought me here after the Triwizard Tournament" It was impossible to forget for Harry this place where Voldemort had used his blood to take a new body and where Cedric had died too

"Oh" Ron nodded "How's Zabini?" He asked looking at Hermione

"He's better now" Hermione responded, administering him a potion that was in her briefcase. "I needed to make him stop bleeding or appearing out of here could kill him"

"Can we leave then?" Harry asked.

"Yes," said Hermione, keeping the empty vial in her pocket "Although not to the ministry, it would be best to take Zabini to Grimmauld Place, I still need to finish healing him" She took out the celestial globe and making it shine again he took Harry's hand

"It's becoming a habit for me to take Zabini's hand" said Ron ironically taking the hand of the unconscious Blaze and then Harry's

"Yes, I start to believe that Zabini likes you too much" Hermione scoffed

"Blimey, Hermione!" Ron rolled his eyes as his friends laughed at him

 _"Finna"_ said Hermione and the four disappeared

.

 **Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, England**

Harry and Ron waited in the living room while Hermione healed Zabini who already awake and resting in the guest room, he was already better, his broken pride was the only thing in which Hermione had not been able to help him.

They heard the doorbell ring, something that made them frown in surprise since Grimmauld Place was a protected place with a Fidelius Charm. Harry got up to the door with his wand in hand "Who is it?" He asked in a hard voice but nobody answered him.

He then opened the door, his wand pointed at the face of the person in front of him. "Malfoy?" He narrowed his eyes, bewildered to see him standing outside his house

"Potter" was the simple answer of Draco Malfoy. Standing in a black suit and as neat and arrogant as Harry remembered him

"What are you doing in my house?" He asked annoyed

"I do not know it myself" Malfoy snorted "The portkey they sent me brought me to this place" taking from his breast pocket an earring, an earring Harry had seen in Hermione the first day she arrived in London

Harry snatched the earring from his hand. "What are you doing with this? Who sent it to you?" Harry questioned him again, looking at the object carefully, checking that it belonged to Hermione.

"None of your business, Potter, I'm looking for-" he could not finish his words since Harry suddenly put his wand on Malfoy's cheek

"Give me a good reason to hex Malfoy, I've been looking for just one excuse to do it all these years," Harry said through his teeth.

"Harry, get away from him!" Hermione chided behind him, down the stairs with Zabini

"Oh, the drama" smiled Blaze

"Why?" Harry asked confused.

"He's here for me, I gave him the portkey" Hermione crossed her arms

"Why?" Harry asked again, as if he did not understand what Hermione was talking about.

"He is part of my research team, I had talked with you a week ago that they would come to help me with the case" she explained.

"Is he part of your research team?" Was the silly question Harry asked again

"Not too smart, innit, Potter?" Malfoy scoffed

"Please keep quiet" she rolled her eyes at the blond, looking at Harry who seemed about to lose his temper "Draco works with me at M.A.C.U.S.A."

"And what is he doing here then? He must have come to the magic ministry, not here" Ron appeared with them also

"You've never had manners, Weasley" Draco huffed "But I'm not here for you, I came for Hermione, I have already prepared an apartment with two rooms for us" he said looking at Hermione

"What?!" Ron looked scandalized, that bizarre thought of Hermione and Malfoy living under the same roof

"Is that true, Hermione?" Harry frowned, crossing his arms to her.

"Well ..." she sighed

"The cat is among the pixies now, Granger" Blaze marvelled at seeing the always-organized Hermione Granger with a dilemma

What was she going to do now? Blaze waited to hear her reply.

.

.

.

 **The cat's among the pixies: The Wizarding equivalent of "the cat's among the pigeons" i.e. trouble has broken out.**

 **Take Cadogan's Pony: To make the best of a bad situations.**

 **Finna: Old Norse word meaning, Find, discover**

 **Codswallop: Term for nonsense**

 **Mercy Lewis: An American Wizarding exclamation (WFT)**

 **Deliverance Dane: An American Wizarding exclamation.**

 **Pygmy Puff: A miniature Puffskein, bred by Fred and George Weasley and sold at their shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Pygmy Puffs resemble little fluffy balls that roll around, squeak and come in various shades of pink and purple.**

 **Pukwudgie: Exceptionally dangerous and secret creatures, they consider themselves in debt to those who save them, however much they dislike it. They also declare themselves bound to them until they have returned the favor. They also have their own magic. They can be very loyal and protective of the things they love. Their magical abilities include the disappearance and reappearance, the partial or complete transformation in a porcupine or puma, and the creation of fire.**

 **Crup:** **Resembled a Jack Russell Terrier, except that a crup had a forked tail. They were clearly wizard-bred dogs since they were extremely loyal to wizards, and ferocious toward Muggles. Crups were great scavengers, eating everything from gnomes to old tyres.**

 **Demiguise: It resembles a cross between a sloth and an ape with large, black eyes and long, silky hair. A peaceful, herbivorous creature that can make itself invisible and have precognitive sight so that the only way to catch them is to do something completely unpredictable.**

 **I added these two creatures of my own mind with inspirational characteristics of other mythologies and Folklore:**

 **Black Shuck: A ghostly black dog recorded as an omen of death, essentially a nocturnal spectrum. In general it is supposed physically bigger than a dog and often has large and bright eyes. It is often associated with thunderstorms and road crossings.**

 **Komainu: Often called lion-dogs. Big Lion-like creatures both guarding and destined to ward off evil spirits and repel dark magic.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Thank you for reading one more chapter of this story, and thanks for the comments you have left; Jem and padfootsnuffles.**

 **-Raitsuki141-**


	5. Chapter 5: Draco Malfoy

**Hi everyone,**

 **Here I have chapter 5 of this story.**

 **Initially I didn't want to make a chapter that would cover Malfoy's point of view but after finishing it I'm glad I did. The idea of an amulet came from since I am a big fan of Nordic mythology and several Asian, such as Japanese and Chinese. Places where there are always talismans and amulets for any type of needs.**

 **The amulet's need here was Draco's, who by not having anyone and seeing Hermione as something more than he was losing from his life, even if in his childhood he was just a bad person with her despite having romantic feelings towards her.**

 **The amulet, too, was an idea to take a sidelong look at Hermione's years out of London.**

 **I hope you like it.**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

 **Chapter 5: Draco Malfoy**

Draco Malfoy watched as the remaining Death Eaters disappeared from the place. The war was over of course, with the Dark Lord Dead, they had no chance of winning, so the bloody bleeders did a bunk. Draco sighed, as he looked at the remains of the castle, even though the battle had stopped and Potter had killed the Dark Lord, nobody had come out undefeated here. Many people had died, and many of his fellow Slytherin would go to Azkaban, probably him and his parents as well.

A surprise for him when the Ministry left them alone. His father said they had reached an agreement after Potter advocated in their defence as a crucial part of the battle after his mother lied to the dark lord to give Potter an advantage. A humiliating help Malfoy thought but still, a necessary help after all.

When some families began to take their children away from the castle, his parents tried to take him also with them, away from school, away from London. But Draco refused, ashamed of his actions, he decided for once in his life to stand up for himself and stay at school, to pay those people who let him live, although indirectly since he refused to drop his pride in front of them.

It was hard, most of the people at Hogwarts looked at him with bitterness and some others even seemed to want to hex him, although they probably only restrained themselves because they thought being a Death Eater, the repercussions he could cause would be worse on them. Even so, it was a torture to look around, the castle destroyed and the dead being claimed in laments for their loved ones. He felt guilty about being part of the cause.

Between all deaths around him, his eyes went to Granger, instinctively without intending to, as always when he looked at her and who seemed more lost than him among all this, being thrown towards his redhead family by the wanker Weasley. She didn't seem disturbed the family was crying over the body of the dead twin, in fact, she didn't even seem to notice what was going on around her, she looked tired, pale and thinner than anyone could consider healthy, her body was full of bumps, cuts and rips, he could notice her split lip and the bruise on her collarbone. Weasley hugged her while he cried on her shoulder not caring he was hurting her, the bloody git. Granger remained undeterred, she didn't even hug him back, something Draco silently thanked.

Then Potter walked towards them, grinning awkwardly at her, the sight of her then finally focused, her eyes showing concern for him, stepping out of Wesley's arms who seemed hurt from her actions, she pulled away, but before she could even get close to Potter, the Wesley girl abruptly stepped in her way embracing Potter instead.

Granger seemed overwhelmed, as if that had crushed her more than anything else in the world, Draco raised an eyebrow at this, Could it be that she had other kinds of thoughts… _for Potter_?

That intrigued him enough

He was so interested in her behaviour to the point to those weeks that followed he ignored the insults and the glances of others around him, his eyes were merely in the witch who seemed to have lost all the ungovernable and know-it-all personality that categorized her so much, there were no more intelligent and insufferable comments, of the fierce girl there was only the memory that inexplicably pursued him.

Until at some dinner, while Weasley ranted a brutal amount of not at all credible lies of which he could not help but snort exasperated, with the dull sound of her chair Granger got up, clenching both fists, while she was whispering something to the people in front of her but he couldn't hear it from the several distant tables where he was.

Draco let her move away a little before following her, a few minutes later, he stood up quickly, no one would notice his presence or his lack of presence after all. He listened to her annoying strides down the corridor on the right side, which made it easy for him to know her whereabouts. Putting his hands inside the pockets of his trousers, he walked slowly through the castle, giving her time to make her comfortable in the place where she had arrived.

About twenty minutes later he was surprised to hear her angry voice coming from outside the Headmistress's office and even more when he heard the old voice of Dumbledore say goodbye to her

Had she been talking to his portrait?

He smiled, thinking to the always good-girl Miss Granger had not minded breaking an immediate rule of Minerva Mcgonagall

Listening to the door open he hid behind a gargoyle, although it didn't matter since she simply left without even looking at anything else, carrying a briefcase

Taking things that did not belong to her?

That, it was definitely something he never thought to see in his life

What else did she think to do now?

This time he walked faster, reluctant to miss anything else from now on as he had done with her talk with Dumbledore's portrait

Unfortunately for him, apparently, once Granger stole something, she became damn fast and slippery, cursing, he was looking for her for more than an hour, without success.

When he thought about giving up on his way back to the great hall, He found her, standing, rather paralyzed in front of great hall doors.

Descending he honestly tried to joke with her but, after having spent so much time finding her, it had sounded more exasperated than anything else. Then, he was disconcerted when she greeted him while her lips let out his first name, which caused him a rather good shudder.

Was ringing so bloody good his name out of her was something good or bad?

He didn't have time to break his head with that, because then she mysteriously stretched a letter in front of him. But when the favour of giving Saint Potter the letter came out of her mouth, he growled and the sullen denial came out of his mouth

She didn't seem to mind, when she took his hand to deposit the letter and even though he spit in response that he would throw it away as soon as she left him alone, she only seemed to smile happier, saying she trusted him, thanking him even though he decided to throw or break that letter she would not be upset, which only managed to embarrass him more.

But once she started talking to him about hoping to see him again one day, he clearly understood she would leave out here. He did not think about it, taking her by the wrist he stopped her, demanded an explanation with a heart full of uncertainty, but she withdrew her hand delicately, making it hurt more than he wanted to admit even to himself.

She looked at him with compassion, then when he was ready to release a poisonous comment that would help him sustain a little bit of the ego he still had, she took something inside the briefcase and extended it to him, claiming it was her way of paying for the favour of delivering the letter

Hadn't she stolen that from the office of the Headmistress? But then, why did he care?

He took it suspiciously, looking at it closely, it was a round amulet, with a full moon and a large sapphire on the other side. Was it a protective amulet or something?

Then she explained, if he wanted it the amulet would show him her whereabouts, wherever she was. That surprised him more, she was trusting him so fully to reveal such information instead of her so precious friends, he looked at her for a moment, biting his tongue for the second noxious comment that wanted to get out of his dirty mouth. Breathing, with a lump in his throat, he pressed the amulet against his chest, closed his eyes and nodded, murmuring he would hand the letter to Saint Potter even if his pride died in doing so.

She smiled at him, thanking him and saying goodbye one last time before disappearing from a snap.

Once she disappeared everything was a chaos around the school, the first person who noticed her absence was Potter, although he seemed to ignore her during all these months, as if he had felt his loss, he began to ask tirelessly for her, in case someone had seen her, Weasley tried to calm him down, claiming she was probably out there, reading a book, Draco rolled his eyes for his lame excuse.

Then, when they all realized she was not there for a week and nobody had seen her since that night at dinner, when she walked away without touching her food, at that moment, everyone panicked, mostly Potter and Weasley.

Draco waited another week, punishing them all, for ignoring her, for taking so long to notice she was gone.

The following week, he waited for Potter to wander alone in the hallways of the school as he did every night, until then he confronted him.

Leaving as soon as Potter noticed him behind him, he pointed his wand at his throat. He let him demand answers for his eagerness to follow him during the night, Potter demanded to confess what was the hidden plan he thought Draco had against him to avenge the defeat and the almost imprisonment of his father, he snorted, because even though Potter he had saved during the battle he still distrusted him.

He denied having any conspiracy against anyone, extending the letter he explained it was his way of payment to the person who had written it for having left him such a splendid gift before leaving, Draco let the vague comment be like a slap to him. Potter looked at the letter, his face paled once he looked at Granger's name on it, snatched from him without any delicacy and opened it without losing time.

Draco raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the written content, because, despite his curiosity, he had refused to open it, respecting the trust Granger had placed on him.

Then he saw Potter dropped both arms, squeezing the letter in his left fist, Potter begun to sob, closing his eyes as the features of his face contracted in pure pain.

He looked at him bewildered

Granger meant so much to him?

Then why had he ignored her all this time? Spending so much time with the Weasley girl, he never turned his eyes to see if Granger was okay, never stopped even five minutes to talk to her

 _Hypocrite prat_ , Draco laughed wryly, he deserved this.

Potter deserved this pathetic farewell written on parchment

And for once in his life, he had gotten something better than Potter. His hand unconsciously felt the amulet inside the right pocket of his trousers.

His volatile mind hadn't been able to catch the moment when Potter had lashed out at him, hitting him in the face like a Muggle as he charge with fury against him, throwing him to the floor while he grabbed him from the lapels of his suit jacket, he yelled at him about what he had done with Hermione.

Baffled and aching tried to remove Potter's hands from his neck, the force with which he had him began to choke him, to his good fortune, the headmistress and several students came to remove Potter from above him. Coughing, Draco tried once more to fill his lungs with air.

Immediately Potter began to rant he had done something to Granger, showing what he said had to be a fake letter made by him to try to cover her abduction, He immediately took out his crazy theory and almost all the other students agreed with him, looking at him with more hatred even if that was possible.

Even the Mcgonagall looked at him suspiciously, but even so, she asked him for his version of what was happening, and the reason why he had that letter in his hands.

He explained only what had happened when he had found her that night outside the great hall, and after she delivered the letter to him, she had said goodbye and disappeared. He omitted the briefcase she took from the headmistress's office and he didn't talk about the amulet either.

Draco could tell that almost nobody believed any words from him. Except Lovegood who said he was not lying.

Although the others didn't believe him, nobody did or said anything else, they didn't have any evidence against him, and while Potter become paranoid again against him which only made him roll his eyes.

His time at Hogwarts was a torture, going from being a pathetic attempt of Death Eater, to becoming the kidnapper or murderer of Hermione Granger, a war hero. Even so, he could finish his studies, without too many serious problems than hateful looks and the occasional bad jokes of some Gryffindors.

Granger's amulet had served him well. The first time, three months after her departure and without knowing how to use it, he did the first thing that came to his mind, swallowing his embarrassment with his cheeks flushed, in the loneliness from his now own room Draco took the amulet between his hands, trembling between his fingers and had asked the amulet to show him the whereabouts of Hermione Granger. Even though once those words came out of his mouth he thought it was load of bollocks and barmy, he marvelled as he realized the sapphire part was glowing, the bright blue colour became as transparent as if it were a crystal ball.

Inside the crystal, Hermione's bushy hair was the first thing he noticed.

Draco bewilderment grew more, not because of seeing her sitting in front of a fireplace reading a book, but for the heavy fur cloak she wore and the unmistakable crest of the Durmstrang Institute holding it on both sides

Were they not very strict about the blood lineage?

Another question would be, why had she gone there?

The amulet also showed him whom he deduced was the new headmaster, an old man, although very tall. A little reminded to Dumbledore, only that his beard was not completely white, and his clothes were more conservative, almost identical to the students' uniform. Draco heard him praise her endeavour to encourage her brain even when she was out of class and he also reminded her, she could use his personal library anytime she wanted. Granger thanked him with a slight smile, then the man said goodbye, leaving her alone again.

Seeing that was enough for him.

Draco set aside the amulet and when his hands released it, Granger disappeared and the colour of the sapphire returned to the same intense blue. He understood then why she decided to leave everything here, to learn more, it sounded like something Granger would do, especially when here all she got was to become depressed.

He didn't blame her, Hogwarts had also made him gloomier in the time he remained there, luckily; his last year there was over.

He did not look for an employee, Granger somehow motivated him to want to do something else on his own, he spent a long time collecting Dark artefacts and studying alchemical manuscripts which took many years of his life and made him temporarily forget about the amulet. Leaving it inside a coffer protected with a strong disillusionment charm that not even Potter who occasionally came to his house to look at everything could find it.

9 years was the time he delayed until he was curious to look inside the amulet to find for her again and as soon as he had it in his hands, this time he didn't hesitate for a second to get her name out of his throat while he looked anxiously as the amulet glowing to then reflect to his eyes to a undoubtedly more mature Hermione Granger, inside an lift, looking so sophisticated in her Auror suit next to what by his appearance he classified as a dark elf, something very unusual to see, even more during the day since they try to avoid the light.

When the lift stopped, both walked through the corridors inside what appeared to be the magic ministry of some country that was not British but he couldn't know where it was, then when he reached a door, the words written on it were the only thing his mind tried to remember, the only thing he tried not to forget.

Leaving the amulet on the table of his desk, he took a parchment and with a quill he scribbled on

 _Magical Activity Research_

He smiled pleased to hear from her again.

He sent an owl to Blaise Zabini an old friend, a personal informant he had inside the Ministry of Magic, luckily for him, there was only one Magical Activity Researcher in the whole world, No one was as good as her to be an expert in tracking Magic. And she was at the Magical Congress of the United States of America, a very vaunted witch who was the pride of the President of the M.A.C.U.S.A.

According to Zabini, the man didn't stop boasting that such a sublime and beautiful woman was part of his council, monopolizing her all for him alone, appropriating each minute of her time without letting almost anyone came close to her, the only one who had contact with her was a very unusual dark elf named Tzeentch who was known to be her guardian and her pet, a small and equally strange puppy named Isos whom sources claimed, could appear and disappear as it pleased, No one knew what kind of magical creature it was, no one else was known.

Once he had read Zabini's letter he had smiled, words like unusual, unique and strange were certainly something that defined Hermione Granger.

What surprised him was that she was in New York and working for the pompous Samuel G. Quahog, spending so much time with him, leaving be dragged into his vicious circle.

Hermione Granger was a conundrum, she always had been and his curiosity towards her, sometime later, made him go to the offices of the Ministry of Magic to request a portkey to America, of course, with the Malfoy family still a great benefactor of the ministry, it was easy for him to get it.

When he arrived at the American Ministry, an Auror welcomed him, rather questioning him about the reason for his trip there, _he was sincere_ , just asking about Hermione Granger and his requirement to see her, the Auror looked at him with a frown questioning him as if he were a criminal, annoying questions as if he had some scheduled appointment, he denied it, but claiming petulantly that once she knew Draco Malfoy had come to look for her, she would meet him.

The young man had to obey, taking him to the office Granger occupied two floors above; he waited outside while the Auror claimed he needed to speak with Miss Granger before letting him in. Draco waited pleased, his family was well known even in America, he had the displeasure of having some business dinners with the President of the M.A.C.U.S.A. Sometimes in London.

It was less than five minutes before the sullen Auror left the office, murmuring how damn lucky the damn rich were to be received even by someone like Miss Granger and then stand next to the door.

Hermione Granger went out of her office, calmly, giving him a smile just as warm as the last time he saw her almost 10 years ago, she received him as if he were an old and dear friend, not as if he was an ex-Death Eater who only insulted her and treated her as offensively as he had in the past.

She took him by the hand to his embarrassment, gently chatting about how happy she was to see him again as she put him inside her office, he heard her telling the Auror he could leave now, something that made him look at the prat as he gave him another haughty look, which seemed to annoy the boy more who seemed to want to argue back just to be magically dragged out and the door slammed in his face.

Hermione turned with her annoyed look, claiming that wasn't a nice thing to do, Draco raised his hands and when he was about to swear he hadn't done anything, someone behind him spoke in an irritated voice. The dark elf appeared crossing one of the walls, alleging the hormonal brat deserved worse treatment than that for his attitude outside the regulations for an Auror of his category.

She rolled her eyes, muttering even though he could have been more delicate with the poor boy

Looking at him again, she introduced Tzeentch who proclaimed himself to be her guardian and she nodded.

After that, they spent all afternoon talking, rather he talked for the most part, after apologizing to her about her behaviour at school, he told her about everything he had done all these years, telling about the Dark artefacts that were on his ownership although he did not use them but only collected them, He also told her about his studies in alchemy and finally, about the amulet she had left in his possession, he also talked about the letter given to Potter and about how people had reacted when they noticed her disappearance.

She apologized to him even though she didn't have to, the way others treated him because of her, she couldn't believe her thoughtlessly act of leaving the letter to him made others hate him so much, it was frightening to imagine that Harry had so many hostile thoughts about him.

He shrugged, claiming things were already that way even before that incident. That seemed to worry her even more, but he supposed she was trying not to upset him so she decided not to talk about it anymore.

When he said he had nothing to do back in London, she then asked him to stay in America, offering him a place to live and a job in the same office as her, as partners, to which he could only accept her offer.

Living with her for a year was a real adventure, even though they both shared a flat, Hermione was very strict about restricting her room, Isos and Tzeentch were the only ones allowed inside it, not even Quahog who seemed to want to be Hermione's second skin had been able to enter the mysterious place. She tried to excuse herself about how dangerous some of the experiments and artefacts inside were

He really believed part of that was true, and the other part, she omitted something else

Something that was probably _even more dangerous_

On the other hand, living with her was so eccentric, weird and funny. Especially Isos, whom he met shortly after

A small puppy that looked more like a dark hairball more than anything else, a small ball that was even smaller than the palm of Hermione's hand, so naughty and playful, Isos had made the most of its ability to appear anywhere he wanted and its ability to become invisible. Those two skills together had brought a big headache to Hermione especially during her time in the office. Well, at least until she designed some special spectacles to see where Isos was and after she started training it.

Tzeentch on the other hand, was a reserved dark elf, he was strangely a fan of music, chess and playing the flute. He never left Hermione's side, always looking in her direction. Luckily, Tzeentch didn't have much trouble with him staying with them, more than a couple of piercing looks for a couple of months until he got used to his presence. Something that Draco understood if he wanted to protect Hermione

During his stay in America, he helped Hermione with his knowledge in alchemy, being a member of her Magical Activity Research team. After what he categorized as a good year, Hermione then arrived with the disastrous news they need to go to London to help with a case about the death of more than 27 wizards of whom there was no clue. They had to accept help since ministers around the world were pushing Quahog who also didn't seem happy with them traveling to London.

A news almost as bad was knowing that they should travel without portkey. Draco refused to go with Hermione in the metal cage the Muggles called aeroplane, agreeing to go after her in a portkey six days later, since he had hoped to find a new book in Germany that would help them solve this case, she reluctantly agreed and Draco tried to tell himself that her reluctance to let him go was because she would miss him and not because she no longer had someone who was watching over Isos, who despite being trained on Hermione's orders, still had a taste for tormenting the wizards and Muggles around him. Then she left him alone while she murmured that she needed to prepare her briefcase.

He shook his head, watching her go away in a childish and moody way, who would have thought Hermione could be so irresponsible sometimes? Well, to be honest, if someone had told him that he and Hermione would be such good friends, he would not have believed it either.

.

.

 **Thanks for the comments.**

 **It seems that Draco likes you in the plot, even though I don't know exactly how far I'm going to put him inside.**

 **Any ideas?**

 **Please comment on this**

 **-Raitsuki141-**


	6. Chapter 6: Hermit's Insomne

**Hey everyone**

 **This chapter was a bit difficult for me, I wanted to put so many things on it but in the end I decided to make it simple.**

 **I owe you an apology, this chapter was written three days ago but for my misfortune I had a problem with my laptop.**

 **I am very happy that you like the story, On the other hand a little surprised of the displeasure about my decisions on the way in which I characterized Harry and Hermione in this story**

 **So I will use this space to answer it. I hope this isn't going to bother the persons**

 **For my partners, sayianhund and Harry Thomas Riddle:**

 **I do not know if you are looking at my story anymore, but still** , **I will explain a little my thoughts if there is a similar problem in some other reader.**

 **Being honest here, everything around us is already catalogued as a cliché. I can even be categorized as a cliché myself. Maybe it's me being a timeworn person who was brought up in the old school or just a rustic ignorant,** **but in my opinion the only problem with stereotypes is not knowing how to enjoy them,** **the news even are already spent as a desperation to prevail as something unique.**

 **(Even though I have not read so many fictional stories about Harry Potter)**

 **I think it's not like I'm duplicating another writer's work, a basic idea on a subject does not make it inappropriate to be explored again with another point of view**

 **When someone writes this kind of fiction stories, one chooses the characters that are considered important**

 **A protagonist**

 _ **I chose Hermione to be my heroine.**_

 **But of course, I'm not saying Harry is stupid but if I want to give prominence to my female lead one should focus on her then. And the boy can be a little clueless sometimes**

 **I love Hermione, she is amazing to me, my favourite character even**

 **First of all even though I am familiar with the word "bitch" (and I don't like that word)** **I'm a bit confused about in witch point Hermione here can be declared as one. Because I consider that although Hermione loved the friendship given to her by Harry and Ron, she never felt the need to always depend on them, on the contrary, she has always been a sufficient and self-determining woman.**

 **I think that's what I like the most about her**

 **And for the record, I don't think Draco is a saint or anything like that, but as we know from the canon context his life after Hogwarts the events of his adolescence changed his life forever. And when he had his son Scorpius, he was raised by Draco and Astoria not to believe that Muggles and Muggle-borns were scum, so he would be more kind and tolerant, which caused Draco to have a tense relationship with his parents at family gatherings.**

 **Something that I believe, of what Hermione would be proud to see more than being angry with him forever**

 **Well, my friends, I hope this message comes to you and more than antipathy for my words,** **you can be more temperate**

 **We don't write or read these stories to break our heads or bother us**

 **We are here to have a good time.**

 **Even so, thank you for reading my story to any point that you consider adequate or appropriate.**

 **-Raituski141-**

 **I hope my reply hasn't offended anyone in particular.**

 **And here, I leave the reader, my chapter six.**

 **.**

 **P.D. (Thanks to the other people who left their comments to support me too, I regret not thanking them one by one, but I think this note has been lengthened enough)**

 **.**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

 **Chapter 6: Hermit's Insomne**

 **Level Two of the Ministry of Magic, Auror Headquarters, London**

Draco Malfoy raised an eyebrow from the desk seat, his hand resting his chin while he wasted time watching Potter and Weasley who looked at him with scowls and muttered among themselves so hard it was impossible for him not to know they were talking about him and Hermione "Pair of bleeders, don't you think, Isos?" he said in a low voice to the dog who was gently biting the fingers of his free hand, circling in his lap, playing around him

They heard the door open, Hermione striding to her desk where Draco had moved another chair to sit next to her

"I spoke with Minister Kingsley about everything that happened in Little Hangleton, all the Aurors are prioritizing the search for our three criminals, but without results" she commented, sitting in the chair next to Draco while he extended a cup of coffee in her hands, taking the papers she had in her hands "Thanks" she thanked the cup of coffee she really needed right now. Since the incident in Little Hangleton and the Obscurus more troublesome than usual, Hermione had not slept almost anything during these three days.

Finding Rodolphus, Rabastan and Fenrir was a headache for her that she could not finish focusing properly on. Looking in front of her, she raised an eyebrow at Harry and Ron. "Could you guys stop rabbiting about Draco and me for a while?!" She said in a stern voice.

Harry and Ron straightened in surprise at the attention call Hermione gave them. Ron cleared his throat "We don't rabbiting, we're talking about the case"

Hermione and Draco rolled their eyes at the same time, something that was unpleasant to see according to Ron and Harry "I don't know what your words have to do with the case, I can even quote your words exactly as, _Hermione has completely lost her head if she really wants to live in the same house as the ferret, I bet he used an Imperius curse on her_ " she crossed her arms "For your information we were living together in New York so I don't have any problem with being roommates in London too"

"There's nothing more nauseating than seeing you living with Malfoy" Ron muttered disgustedly.

Harry could not help but agree, even though he did not say anything, especially when Hermione's scowl deepened when she heard Ron "If you don't want to see him then we can just go..."

"No!" Harry cut her off. Although he didn't like Malfoy and he still thought the ferret was planning something with his closeness with Hermione, he didn't want Hermione to leave the house. Living Merlin only knows where with Malfoy, the two of them, _alone_ "You and Malfoy can still live with us at Grimmauld Place, Ron is just being a berk, there's no problem" he tried to calm her down

"But-" Ron tried to complain again, but with a wave of Harry's wand, his mouth was closed with a silencing charm

"You see? Everything is fine" Harry nodded

Hermione narrowed her eyes, but decided to ignore their childish behaviours "As I was saying before, there is no trace of Fenrir or the Lestrange brothers, probably they are still hiding, trying to save Rabastan's life"

Harry frowned "But he will die" he clarified, Rabastan's wounds were very deep, when they took him away he had already lost an arm and a leg as well as having a big cut on his chest, and since Rodolphus and Fenrir were not great experts in healing spells, it would not be in any way possible to save him

"Exactly" Hermione agreed

"Then they will have to leave the body behind" Draco nodded

Harry placed a hand on his chin as he thought "With evidences in the place"

Hermione smiled "More like blood and a corpse with a trace to me"

Ron winced at Hermione's morbid words, removing the spell from his mouth "Anyway, then we should wait until they show up on their own?"

"As unpleasant as that sounds, that's the way it should be, even so, Aurors are still looking for them" Hermione replied, yawning

"Have you been sleeping?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"A little less than I'd like to admit" she said simply, sipping a little more of her coffee cup

Harry looked at her, squinting. Hermione looked very tired, since two days ago it seemed she hadn't been sleeping but he refused to say anything for fear of bothering her "You should go home, taking a sleeping draught potion would help with your sleeplessness problems" he tried to persuade her "You should use this time, as you said, there is nothing to do until the body of Rabastan appears"

Hermione looked at him, Harry's worried face was something she had never been able to refuse "Okay, I will" she sighed in defeat "But if Rabastan shows up, you should inform me immediately" she warned

"We will do it" Harry nodded

"While you go to sleep, I'll go with Blaze, we need to talk about a couple of things" Draco stood up when she did "I'll take Isos with me, so you don't have to worry about anything else" He put the unruly puppy inside the pocket of his robes

"I'll go with you" Harry said standing up as well "I'll take you home, Hermione" he smiled

"Why?" She asked confused "I can go home by myself, thank you very much"

Malfoy looked at him suspiciously "Anything to confess Potter?" He raised an eyebrow

Harry raised both eyebrows at the blond man, challenging him "Anything you want to know Malfoy?" asked back

"Why do you want to go with me Harry? It's not like I'm going to get lost on my way to Grimmauld Place" She crossed her arms

"I'm going to read a couple of books in the library, maybe my mind will clear up a bit after that" he shrugged

Hermione smiled, pleased to hear that "Well, let's go then" she extended her hand

He didn't doubt even a second to take it, smiling back at her

Ron snorted "I'll go to the Burrow, it's been a while and mom probably will go crazy once she knows Hermione is here"

Hermione tensed when she heard him. The burrow? She didn't even want to imagine what Molly Weasley had to say to her about her disappearance for eleven years. She would probably burst out in anger over what she would define as… the cheek. She cleared her throat "do you really have to tell your mother I'm here?"

Ron smiled amused. "Scared Hermione?"

"It's not like someone enjoys your mother in one of her lecture incidences" she defended herself

"Something very similar to those made for you" a new silencing charm closed his mouth.

Ron frowned at the culprit

"Just get out of here Weasley" It was Malfoy, keeping his wand back in its holster

Despite his bad mood and removing the spell once more from his mouth "See you later, Harry, Hermione" Ron took his belongings "Ferret" he hissed irritably

"I'm glad to know you guys get along so well" Hermione said sarcastically

Draco just growled

"See you later, Draco" she took her trenchcoat and her briefcase from her desk

"Hermione, Potter" the blonde said goodbye as Harry just gave him a slight nod. Draco opened the office door so they left first

Looking at them from behind. Draco's mocking smile disappeared. His serious gaze slid to the intertwined hands of both as they walked and chatted for hallways of the ministry

He felt the afflicted weight on his chest once again

He denied with his head several times before his eyes focused on them again.

No matter how selfish and ambitious he was, Hermione was a lost issue for him

.

 **Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, England**

Harry stretched the sleeping potion in Hermione's hands "I made it myself, I hope you don't mind" said

Hermione took it "You've always been a brilliant wizard Harry, I'm sure this potion is perfect" she smiled

He shook his head, always embarrassed by Hermione's compliments "No, you're the brightest witch I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, I've never been as good as you"

She laughed, his words were so familiar to her "Me? Books and cleverness!" she said in her best voice, a bit strange to try to imitate herself "There are more important things-…"

"Friendship and bravery" Harry finished for her

Their smile widened as they looked at each other. They missed this closeness between them

Hermione was the first to look away from him to the vial in her hands "I should get into my room to sleep for a while" she pointed to the door behind her

Harry's lips constricted into a tight line, but she was right, although he didn't want her to get away from him, he didn't want her to get sick either "You're right, I'll let you rest" he nodded but didn't move from his place

She shook her head, amused at his stubborn demeanour. For a moment she wished she could tell him to stay with her, she wanted to take his hand and open to him the door to her world, cling to him as he had done with her all these years together at Hogwarts. But she couldn't.

She couldn't do that to Harry, he was the most important person to her

After Voldemort's death his life had finally been as calm as it should have been at first, he didn't deserve that she dragged him to another problem which he wasn't to blame either

She had brought herself the problem that was inside her suitcase so now she had to face the consequences of her actions

"See you tomorrow Harry" she said goodbye to him. She saw him frown, unhappy with her words

He sighed defeated "See you tomorrow Hermione" he gave her a small smile "I'll wait for you to go first" he answered when her gaze showed confusion, probably because he was still standing in the same place

"All right" she nodded. Then, she leaned over him, ignoring the surprise in his eyes, she placed a soft kiss on his cheek "And Harry" she murmured with even her lips brushing over his cheek, causing him a shiver. Her hand took the knob behind her, opening it

Harry couldn't help the sideways look he dedicated to the interior of her room as she pull away from him. Missed, he saw nothing had been moved, there was no indication that someone was sleeping in there, even less, two people and a dog, it was as if the room was still uninhabited since Harry finished decorating it so many years ago. He forced himself to answer Hermione "What is it?" His voice trembled slightly.

"Just be careful"

Her words confused him. "All right" he said, still not understanding when he saw her enter to her room before she gave him a last smile and closed the door.

He cocked his head a couple of times before shrugging and walking to the Black family's library

On his way, his footsteps stopped in front of the bedroom door that at the moment belonged to Draco Malfoy, Harry turned his head towards the door. Curiosity called him to break Malfoy's privacy

He hesitated for a couple of seconds because Hermione, he knew if she ever found out that he was snooping around Malfoy things, she would be furious, of course, _if she found out_

That alone was enough for Harry to take out his wand with decision, pointing to the door _"Alohomora"_ but the door didn't open, there was probably an anti-Alohomora on the door, he raised his wand again _"Liberare"_ but the door didn't open either _"Emancipate"_ again.

But the bloody door remained closed

Bloody Hell!

The door needed a key, maybe… _"Portaberto"_ A tiny explosion. Harry smiled victorious as the door opened. Unfortunately this spell left a smoking hole where the key should have gone

But for now, he could omit that little inconvenience, he would solve it later

He opened the door with his left hand while with his right hand pointed to any peculiarity that could appear inside the room. It was not strange for him that Malfoy had tricks around his things, at first he had been ripped off a couple of times.

Before when he went to Malfoy's house to look for evidence about his illicit actions, Harry hadn't tried to look for something hidden, his only goal had been to check what was in plain sight, not because he couldn't find anything, Malfoy had probably been trying to hide a couple of them, but because even though he hated the git, Malfoy didn't deserve to be treated like a criminal, well, at least not until Harry had tangible evidence

But now, he needed to look for another kind of thing besides Malfoy's dark artefacts

The room, contrary to Hermione's had signs that Malfoy lived here, despite everything being organized, his belongings could be seen around. There was even a magical photograph of his parents next to him on the desk smiling proudly.

Strolling his eyes around the place the first thing he noticed was an unusual distance between two pieces of furniture, Harry, being an Auror with several years of experience knew whenever this singularity happened, it was because something was hidden in that place. _"Revelio"_ he murmured

And there it was, under the effects of a disillusionment charm a chest appeared, again he pointed it with his wand _"Cistem Aperio"_ the spell opened the chest with a burst of light. Harry approached it, inside there was only what appeared to be an amulet in the shape of a full moon _"Accio"_ he conjured it into his hand, refused to touch the chest with his bare hands, wary of Malfoy putting some other spell on it.

He examined it in his hands, a huge blue stone shining on the other side

What exactly was this?

It didn't matter now, he had to get out of here now if he did not want to be caught red-handed. Saving the amulet inside his trousers and with another movement of his wand the chest closed again, he invoked another disillusionment charm over the chest to make it look as if nothing had been moved from its place. His wand then went to the door _"Reparo"_ and the door was fixed

Harry left the room, but not before taking another look inside, nothing caught his attention.

He closed the door again. His feet took him to his own room instead of the Black Library where he set out to examine the object in his trouser pocket.

.

* * *

 _Hermione opened her eyes, confused, she got up on the hard ground where she was lying. Where she was? This place wasn't her room at Grimmauld Place. She felt the water fall on her head like a gentle breeze that barely touched her face, she lifted her head to the sky to see where the water was coming from._

 _Two huge mountains covered by temples from which a large waterfall was divided into very small ones due to the rocks and the fauna that surrounded it. With paleness covering her face, Hermione recognized the place_

 _Was this a nightmare?_

 _Despite her fear, she started to climb the first mountain, a little smaller than the second one, she climbed the hundreds of stone stairs. She couldn't help but think about the last time she was here, the previous time it had been an agony to climb the whole mountain, now, she felt her feet float as she stepped on each step. Among the temples that took her to the top of the first mountain, she couldn't help but look around, looking for the people who lived here, but the place was completely empty._

 _She didn't know at what moment she was upstairs, looking at the huge temple that was next to the beginning of this waterfall, as majestic and bright as she remembered it. She was tempted to enter since she had never seen it on the inside but she preferred not to do it at the last minute, it wasn't her destiny to tread that place._

 _Her eyesight then went to the right side,_ _where was the second mountain attached to this one, there was a grotto on it, Hermione knew it well. She followed the stone path that was attached to the mountain and the stream that formed next to the road and which later became a simple stone bridge_

 _Once stepping on the stone bridge,_ _the small stream now turned all the inside into water around it, the grotto was the same as she remembered it, the sea seems to be illuminated under the water making it look magnificently bright blue. Something unusual and beautiful to see_

 _On the rocky walls the light filtered through the holes of the waterfall falling into the grotto, two holes with more accuracy, one was over the bridge a couple of steps where she was about to walk, She trembled when the cold water suddenly fell on her but it was only a couple of seconds and then it didn't fall over her head anymore._

 _The second orifice of the waterfall was at the end of the bridge before it reached a small garden, when Hermione got there, she stopped; tense as she looked at what was inside the garden._

 _A huge dragon-shaped pillar that held an equally large golden Pagoda-shaped cage from its snout._

 _This was definitely a nightmare._

 _Her eyes widened with terror as she saw the silhouette of the person shaking inside the cage while some drops fell on the roof of the cage, she distinguished her own figure in a foetal position on the floor,_ _emaciated, wearing only a uttarasanga to cover her and_ _with shackles and gold chains imprisoning her legs, hands and neck which they were partially burned by contact_

 _Hermione heard her other figure sob with regret from her position "Harry, I'm sorry" the sore voice of her younger self brought tears to Hermione_

 _This, more than a nightmare, belonged to part of her memories_

 _Memories she had had to possess for her arrogance back then. Now, she was unconsciously punishing herself again by having to relive them in her dreams_

 _A disheartening for Hermione had been staying in that cage for five years_

 _And she remembered this moment as clear as crystal_

 _She was in Shaanxi Province and it was a little after her first year of confinement, she was tired, sad, weak, regretful, in pain. She felt her strength was finally ending after more than a year of trying to stay alive._

 _For what purpose anyway?_

 _She just wanted that torture to come to an end, any way out_

 _Even dying seemed like a pleasant thought_

 _In addition to the torture of shackles, malnutrition and loneliness, the constant trickle of water on her cage began to drive her crazy_

 _She could barely sleep for two or three hours a day_

 _With each small drop fell on the metal her heart seemed to enter a state of painful irregularity that was measured with the time before another drop fell again_

 _A balanced rhythm_

 _Like before falling,_ _her heart was deadly slow_

 _And then, when the drop fell,_ _the speed of her heart increased to a painful state inside her chest_

 _She even thought, could she die of a cardiac arrest just by listening to a drop of water?_

 _Hermione closed her eyes as her dream reproduced the sound of the drops of water around her again. She shook her head, she wouldn't tolerate seeing this, her feet moved,_ _trying to reach the cage in the garden but a menacing bark made her stop her way, surprised at the sudden sound, she fell backwards on one of the stones of the bridge,_ _blinking confused as she focused on the animal that had appeared in front of her_

 _It was the huge, almost corporeal figure of a wolf made for what it seemed to be, it was black smoke that looked at her behind a pair of piercing eyes._

 _The barking had sounded like caution, warning, maybe uneasy about her presence here, probably wanting to protect itself or… something or someone else. Hermione narrowed her eyes, inspecting it, something about its appearance seemed familiar._

 _And when the wolf tried to get close to her, its paws started to create a trail of blue fire around the two of them,_ _it before hazel eyes shone from the same deep blue as the fire and then, Hermione understood_

 _It was the Obscurus_

 _The dark energy that she thought before was smoke began to grow as avidly as the fire, reaching her to the place where she was "No, stay away from me!" She began to panic as the entity surrounded her body_

 _Seeing the wolf in front of her_ _seemed ready to attack her at any moment, sideways behind him, she could see the cage. An idea came to her_

 _Maybe if she managed to reach her youngest self, the Obscurus would disappear, maybe if she released her…_

 _But it was an easier task to think about what to do because when she managed to stand up and take a step forward, the Obscurus became defensive, protecting the cage_

 _Hermione frowned,_ _her posture also tensed as she looked cheekily to the wolf in front of her,_ _of course the Obscurus would show an aggressive-protective behaviour to that damn cage, if it were not for it, the Obscurus wouldn't exist_

 _Of course, Hermione_ _wasn't scared, after all, if she had locked it once, she could do it again_

 _Both looked at each other with defiance,_ _this seemed like a typical fight between two wolves in search of territorial conquest_

 _The size of the wolf grew even more, almost covering the whole grotto, its figure was amorphous but the traces of its head remained visible, its two eyes became six on its face, energy and blue fire surrounded it_

 _Hermione raised her outstretched hand where she always wore her ring-shaped amulet in front of the wolf, the symbol of Aegishjalmur was visible on it while her magic summoned the same symbol in front of her hand with a blue magic trail_

 _Hermione closed her eyes_ _ **"byrgja"**_

 _The magic in her hand grew until it glowed all over the place._

.

.

When Hermione opened her eyes again, she was no longer in that terrifying place but back in Grimmauld Place, inside her suitcase, lying in her room.

Her eyes widened in surprise when her gaze reached her hand and she saw blue fire burning some of her sheets. Immediately she got up, hitting the small fire with her hand to make it go out but it didn't work _"Aguamenti"_ she murmured with her hand over the fire, extinguishing it

She sighed relieved that it had only been a small fright, looking at the sheets she sat on the side of the burned spot. She shook her head, this wasn't the first time her magic went unconsciously out of control. Stress always caused that in her

This dream, on the other hand, was new. At least the part of the Obscurus

Hermione ran her hand over the burned sheet, murmuring a spell, the stain disappeared and the impeccable white color returned. The only good thing about burning things constantly during dreams was to perfect a spell to disappear the traces the fire caused; The bad part was having to explain why her desk was burned when she fell asleep a few times in her office back in New York.

Hermione then looked at the watch on her wrist, it was three o'clock in the morning, she had slept for a little over nine hours. She got up from the bed and looked at the clothes she was wearing; her blue dress shirt and dark trousers were wrinkled, and it was because after taking the potion, she had gone straight to bed without even changing her clothes, only her trenchcoat lay on the back of her armchair

She left her room, the inside of her suitcase was divided into a large cross-shaped corridor with many numbered doors, except for the library that was in the center, Hermione's favorite place and where was the spiral staircase that connected to the outside of the suitcase.

But this time Hermione wasn't heading there, instead, she went to the door with the wooden carving of a Fwooper on it, she hates-loved that place too, because although it relaxed her in some way, it also reminded her of that unbearable place where she was imprisoned, especially the pagoda near a cherry tree.

 _But this was a Japanese teahouse garden_ _so of course there had to be a pagoda,_ she rolled her eyes, after Tzeentch's words made a buzz in her head

Even so, she had made Tzeentch cover the stream and fountain since it was impossible for her to hear the movement of the water. She was even grateful when Tzeentch played music at a high volume while she showered, a good way to distract her attention as the water fell so close to her.

Opening the door of the place, she closed her eyes as the breeze and the smell of the grass reached her nostrils, walking towards the chashitsu inside the garden while out of the corner of her eye she directed a rigid look at the pagoda that had won her hatred since it was put there by Tzeentch

Even so she let it be there because it was his friend's wish, there weren't many things inside this place that belonged to Tzeentch besides his room and the gramophone in the library, so to that uncomfortable pagoda she could bear it for him

Inside the tea room, Hermione was greeted by the bewitched teapot that she created herself, the piece made of cast iron always seemed to be somehow excited to see her whenever she came here, something she did every day

"Good to see you too" she smiled happily as the teapot fluttered in her head

She sat in her favorite settee as she let the bewitched tea set spoil her

Simple moments like these in which Hermione appreciated more than anything being a witch

.

* * *

Harry looked at the clock on his nightstand, it was three in the morning. He took his glasses out of his sight so he could put a hand across his face and then put them back on, blinked tiredly.

So many hours had passed and he had not been able to find out or push on anything of that amulet, it seemed nothing but a useless expensive ornament

There was nothing dark magic about that jewelry

No curse

It was so bog-standard that Harry was going to go nutter

All that Harry had managed to identify worthwhile of this object for him was to find ancient runes drawn around the full moon, under the perfect handwriting of Hermione

In other times, Harry would have thought this was a worthy circumstance to be alarmed, but now, knowing that he and Hermione were… _friends_. Well, it wasn't unusual that Malfoy had something done by Hermione

The weird thing here, was that Malfoy had this under lock and a disillusionment charm

So the amulet was very valuable, _or dangerous_

How could an amulet be dangerous when there was no dark magic inside it?

He didn't know yet

Harry narrowed his eyes at the amulet on his bed, sitting from an armchair next to his window

Maybe things were not as complicated as he thought, what he wanted to say was, what was an amulet after all? What was it for?

How did the magic of an amulet work? Was it like a spell?

If so, then it had to leave a trace

Of course, he wasn't an expert in magic tracking like Hermione, but he knew how to identify a spell, he was an auror after all

There was nothing to lose, as strange or silly as it sounds to try to find a trace of a spell cast inside an amulet, if this is an amulet, which usually serve to protect.

And although the core of his wand with the amulet weren't the same to create an echo of the most recent spell, Harry hoped that being the magic of Hermione who with the years they know each other somehow was linked to his by the fraternal love connected between the two through time, he hoped that was enough

It could work

 _ **It had to work**_

" _Prior Incantato"_ Apart from the light that came out of his wand and touched the amulet, nothing out of the ordinary happened

Harry sighed, closed his eyes, ruffled his hair in frustration

He had been so confident that it would work!

It must work!

"Show me Hermione Granger" Harry opened his eyes surprised to hear Malfoy's voice come out of the amulet

It wasn't a spell, but his own enchantment had made whatever activates the amulet reproduced again since the last time it was used, which was Malfoy's voice calling for Hermione's whereabouts

The amulet then began to shine and Harry stood up to take it in his hand, turning it until he saw the sapphire becoming a transparent mirror, the image of Hermione was reflected in its interior

But she wasn't in her room sleeping as he supposed

She was sitting in an armchair in some strange place, drinking a cuppa while she read a book, a bewitched teapot filled her cup once it was empty. "Thank you" he heard her murmur, returning to her reading.

Harry couldn't stop seeing the image in front of him, it was without a doubt Hermione, and because of the same clothes she was still wearing, it had to be what she was doing right now.

But, she wasn't in her room

So, where was she?

.

.

 **Ok, until here ends chapter six.**

 **Again, I hope the chapter is to your liking**

 **Here a couple of curiosities of the chapter in case you want to read them:**

 **The title of the chapter makes two references.**

 **One. I take the legend of "Insomne" from the story "The Insomne Dragon" also known as "The Colchian Dragon" from Greek mythology. Sometimes mentioned as a snake. The Dragon had the ability to never to sleep and was in charge of guarded the Golden Fleece at Colchis, the sacred grove of Ares. When the Argonauts went in search of this one, Medea, with her magic, made sleep the sleepless dragon, occasion Jason took advantage of to steal the Fleece. In the chapter it was an excerpt from the scene of Harry stealing the amulet from Draco's room who as you know, his name means Dragon.**

 **Of course, "Insomne" It is also due to sleeping problems Hermione had here. The word means Insomnia.**

 **Two. The word "Hermit" It is a tarot card that represents introspection, solitary meditation, the need for self-knowledge, the withdrawal from the world to better understand what has been learned and assimilate it. A parable in the spiritual world.**

 **Also, I took it from the expression "Garden Hermit" a trend that was experienced in the United Kingdom, especially in England, in the eighteenth century: "Garden Hermits" or "Ornamental Hermits". This fashion consisted in having a hermit living in your garden.** **Wealthy people decorated their gardens with bridges, temples and leafy trees while the people chosen to be part of the garden lived in austerity and melancholy as a silent existence who should dress as druids, were forbidden to bathe and cut their nails and could not talk to anyone.**

 **An ironic term to Hermione's imprisonment**

 **Hanging cages: Until the end of the 18th century, it was not unusual to find abundant iron and wooden cages attached to the exterior of municipal buildings, ducal or justice palaces, cathedrals, walls of the cities or on high poles near the crossroads. The victims, naked or half-naked, were locked in cages and hung up. They died of hunger and thirst; for bad weather and cold in winter; and the heat and sunburn in summer.**

 **Chinese Water Torture: It is a psychological torture. It is a method of torture extremely heartbreaking and lacerating, which sought physical and mental pain unbearable that not only snatched the victim's life, also alienated slowly. It consisted in immobilizing an inmate in the supine position –Lying on your back-, so a drop of cold water fell on your forehead every five seconds. After a few hours, the continuous drip caused physical damage to the skin, similar to that suffered by the fingertips after an immersion bath.**

 **Whoever was condemned to this took several days to die and could do it in different ways: Due to a cardiac arrest caused by the incessant drip that prevented you from falling asleep, the drop of water could also end up eroding the bone of your head, after a great loss of time going hungry and thirsty, which weakened both body and soul.**

 **A similarity with the drop falling on Hermione's cage**

 **Byrgja:** **Old Norse word meaning Shelter, enclose, isolate**

 **Aegishjalmur: It is a symbol of Norse mythology that was used by the Viking warriors and means "The Helm of Awe" A magical symbol that evokes powers for protection,** **it was also known as an amulet that contains a spell of terror. In ancient times it was said that the Viking warriors wore this symbol located on their foreheads, as a kind of third eye, to give them powers of invincibility and thus was a way to instill fear among their opponents.**

 **Chashitsu: (** **茶室** **, "tea room") in Japanese tradition is an architectural space designed to be used for tea ceremony (chanoyu) gatherings.**

 **Fwooper: A magical African bird with brightly-coloured feathers, which can include orange, pink, lime green and yellow. Listening to the Fwooper's high pitched, twittering song will drive the listener insane, so each bird must be sold with a Silencing Charm placed on it. The four colour varieties of the Fwooper are used to represent the number four, in the runic alphabet.**

 **So the Hermione tea garden door has the number 4**

 **Bog-standard: Completely ordinary, without anything special added.**

 **That's it for now, I'll upload the chapter as fast as I can**

 **Thank you**

 **.**

 **.**

 **-Raituski141-**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

.


	7. Chapter 7: Zugzwang

**Okay I am republishing this chapter because I have decided that although this chapter is more extensive than the previous ones, I don't want it to end up being two parts, two different chapters because the story itself will be a bit long.**

 **I hope you like the chapter, it has given me great headaches to be able to finish it.**

 **Thanks to all who continue reading my story**

 **Speaking of a bit of random talk**

 **Has anyone played the cell phone game Fantastic Beast: Cases from the Wizarding World?** **I am not a person who is very fond of videogames but this game is quite clever I recommend it to you as to hang out during a limited period per day**

 **Well, it may have taken me a little longer uploading this chapter because I've been playing around my cell a bit more than I should because of this game**

 **(A little too much addictive)**

 **Raituski141-**

 **Here I leave a small glossary for you to understand the chapter a little better.**

 **Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", is a situation found in chess and other games wherein one player is put at a disadvantage because they must make a move when they would prefer to pass and not move. The fact that the player is compelled to move means that their position will become significantly weaker. A player is said to be "in zugzwang" when any possible move will worsen their position.**

 **Fwooper: Magical African bird with brightly-coloured feathers, which can include orange, pink, lime green and yellow. Listening to the Fwooper's high pitched, twittering song will drive the listener insane, so each bird must be sold with a Silencing Charm placed on it.**

 **Jarvey: Resembles an overgrown ferret. The Jarvey is capable of Human speech, although true conversation with a Jarvey is impossible. The creature uses short, usually rude, statements and phrases in an almost constant stream.**

 **Jobberknoll: A small, blue speckled bird that never makes any noise until the moment before it dies. It then lets out a long scream, which consists of every sound it ever heard backwards.**

 **Kamikaze: ("divine wind" or "spirit wind") In Japanese, the formal term used for units carrying out suicide attacks during 1944–1945 is Tokushu Kōgeki Yunitto which literally means "special attack unit"**

" **Poisonous toadstools don't change their spots": a Wizarding phrase meaning "people can't change who they really are inside."**

 **The Prelude of an Obscure Time**

 **Chapter 7: Zugzwang**

 **Potion-Mixing Room , Level Two of the Ministry of Magic, Auror Headquarters, London**

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her white shirt, leaving her briefcase on the table, she pulled out her tools, leaving them scattered on it. Placing her vision-enhancing spectacles over her eyes, she buckled the leather strap behind her head.

For someone this could be an unpleasant task, maybe even being in the same room as her, but for Hermione, it was a normal thing to do especially when she knew that looking at the usually nauseating for others for her was a habitual reality for her, she didn't even want to imagine how unpleasant it would be for someone with a stomach as sensitive as Ron having to wear these spectacles that had magically enhanced magnifiers to see exactly every detail of a wizard's body.

A special invention she had made, and it's because although biologically non-magical people and wizards were equal, there were some different components and these spectacles maximized the essence of those components as well as showing the magic core

Something that also helped her to find the slippery Isos when it was doing mischief around

For now, this would help her to examine the corpse of Rabastan Lestrange

Turning to the adjacent table, she found the lifeless body of Lestrange, well, what was left of him

At first glance the unhealed marks of his survival fight with the Hidebehind was palpable, now, what she needed to find in this dead body, it was what they had done with him the days after the attack on Little Hangleton.

Hermione took the dead hand, the only remaining hand, the spell of the internal telescope immediately manifested itself as she looked behind the magnifying spectacles at Rabastan's dirty nails. There was a large amount of uncommon fibres in the dirt, taking in her hand from the other table a pair of fine-tipped precision forceps, she took very carefully the tiny fragments, placing them inside different vials. She frowned when she detected a strange smell coming from the part of the body she was holding.

Fluxweed?

Knotgrass?

Those plants were too familiar to ignore the fact that they were essential ingredients with the preparation of Polyjuice Potion, what in the bloody hell was Rabastan doing with that potion?

Had he ingested it?

Impossible with his wounds, he would have died after ingesting it, although, perhaps that was the cause of his death and not the wounds caused by the beast

She released his hand, with the forceps she took some strands of Rabastan's hair and put them into a vial as well. With one hand, she opened one of his eyes, looking at her eyeball she could see the dilated pupils, something that confirmed one of her doubts.

Rabastan had ingested a potion or several so strong to the point of poisoning him

Hair tests would tell her what kind of potions they were, but she couldn't wait that long

Not when there was an easier way to know.

Taking out her wand, with a movement above the torso of the naked body in front of her a large opening crossed it, from the throat until after the navel, it wasn't so deep but enough to discover the organs inside the skin

From her briefcase, she took a pair of latex gloves, according to Hermione, the best Muggle invention after the rollerball pen. And according to her, nothing more disgusting than to put her hand inside the organs of a Death Eater.

She searched the stomach of all the disaster within Rabastan's inside. Upon finding it, the stomach was still full

She knew that for the body to have not worked properly leaving all that waste inside, he must have died almost at the same time he ingested such a lethal amount of potions.

When she opened the organ with her wand after placing it on an empty stainless steel tray, the liquid inside the stomach created a nasty gas and a bubbling effervescence reacted inside the tray, Hermione covered her nose but it was too late, the stench permeated so deep in her sensitive sense of smell.

She closed her eyes, moving away a few steps back. Years in this job had made her sensitive to the smell of anything around her, especially the magic trail and potions, which she often used for cases M.A.C.U.S.A. assigned to her

 _A curse disguised as a blessing._

She removed her spectacles from her head, leaving them next to her briefcase, she wouldn't need them anymore

At least now she knew what kind of potions Rabastan had ingested, although the price she had to pay for the answer was not worth the risk of doing so. But it was her fault, always intrusive and somewhat reckless were part of her nature

She made a mental note about the options she could perceive:

Blood-Replenishing Potion

Calming Draft

Skele-Gro

Antidote to Common Poisons

Bruisewort Balm

Wiggenweld Potion

Hermione shook her head, those potions were to heal wounds and bones, but all at the same time it was a reckless and dangerous decision.

It also confirmed to her, he had ingested Polyjuice Potion.

Which probably ended up poisoning him and using Antidote to Common Poisons to try to stop an overdose of potions had probably only worsened Rabastan's situation. Hermione wasn't surprised at his irresponsibility, they were Death Eaters after all, they were instructed to end life, not to save it.

Looking at the strange potion created inside the tray, Hermione could glimpse a piece of parchment that Rabastan had probably swallowed in a desperate haste to eliminate the evidence, without much delicacy she took it with her gloved hand, allowing it to drip inside the tray, she took out her wand again _"Tergeo"_ and the spell had the parchment cleaned and dried but it was empty, there was nothing written on it _"Aparecium"_ touching the parchment with her wand the ink revealed the hidden message. The imperfect handwriting became perfectly visible.

But more than the handwriting, what caught Hermione's attention the most was the drawing of a prototype of a Time Turner

"Why in the name of Deliverance Dane?" she muttered to herself, taking the parchment with both hands, bringing it closer to her eyes to clear her sight

This had to be a lie

But it wasn't, no matter how much she wanted it

It was real, and the ink here, it was from a very well-studied drawing about the time turners already created, she could notice that despite some small flaws that if examined closely could be repaired, this prototype would in fact become a real time turner. One very effective, an improved model that could allow them to stay in the past as long as they want and return to the future whenever they want.

She knew it well because she had also studied a lot of books about time turners, perhaps more than necessary to remain with a sound judgment. This was becoming more serious and complicated than she thought at first

And despite the dangerousness of the situation, Hermione couldn't help but think that this was a very clever idea, not even she had thought of something similar to improve the time someone could afford to stay in the past

But, who had made this sketch?

The best thing would be to eliminate this, if by chance it fell into the wrong hands it could destroy the whole magic world

Hermione pointed with her wand the parchment in her hand, still looking at the illustration in front of her

This was the right thing after all, right?

But, What if she didn't do it?

Would it be so bad to keep this parchment for now?

She could study it for now, keep it very well inside her suitcase and after she was satisfied and her questions about the artefact disappeared, she would destroy it

Yes, that would be good

She put the parchment inside her briefcase and then, she closed it with a movement of her wand

Hermione then returned her attention to Rabastan's body, she had made a mess with the corpse, and probably no Auror would want to take it back if they found it in this state. She supposed that it would be best to close the body

She approached it, arranging to sew it magically when she noticed the strange size of his heart, which wasn't so strange because there were cases in which after a poisoning the heart could dilate or cause hypertrophy of the organ but, looking more closely, it seemed as if there was something hampering the heart, as an object within it

Hermione touched it with the free hand of her wand, a small bottle or a vial seemed to be inside. She muttered a spell with her wand to open the organ, just as she had done with the body previously but when her wand touched the place where the strange object was, the heart burst and she was hit by the explosion after that.

.

 **Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary, Knockturn Alley, London, England**

Neville Longbottom had been the wizard who had communicated the Aurors about the whereabouts of Rabastan Lestrange's corpse, after he visited Knockturn Alley and coincided with the time when the shop clerk, a doubtful young man Neville hadn't seen before, he tried to get rid of the body thinking that nobody was watching.

Of course, Neville was someone to take actions rather than words.

Because of this, Harry Potter now entered Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary located in Knockturn Alley to look around the place, Rabastan's corpse had already been removed and taken to the Ministry where Hermione would probably be currently examining it on her own. Now, it was his turn to examine the place where apparently Rabastan had died, his alleged murderer, the shop clerk who had also been brought along with Neville to the Ministry of Magic to be interrogated by Ron and Malfoy.

Upon entering the place, the shop seemed to be in total chaos. Stepping around Harry could see a lot of broken vials, some crunching under his shoes and the smell was strong due to the spilled potions

Harry found Zabini taking pictures of everything around "Zabini" he called him

Zabini turned his head towards the person calling him "Potter"

"What have you found?"

Zabini frowned "The whole place is a mess, there is blood and potions thrown everywhere, and we had to ventilate the place to get in, the smell was impossible to bear when we got here"

"I see" Harry nodded, looking at everything out of the corner of his eye, trying to find something that caught his attention "Where did you find the body?" He asked.

"The cellar" replied "The boy had Lestrange inside a huge trunk in the cellar, but he had to get rid of him because the smell of rot began to surround the place, I'll show you" Zabini encouraged Harry to follow him, pointing with one hand at the door behind the counter

Harry walked behind him, still inspecting everything around him. There were many marks and blood stains on the walls, furniture and floor

Whose blood was it?

Harry didn't have time to answer himself when they entered the cellar and the stench of potions, blood and rot was stronger and nauseating here, Harry pulled his handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, covering his nose with the bright, dark red cloth. "Pretty disgusting, isn't it?" Zabini said amused, his voice covered by his own handkerchief over his face.

"I don't think anyone would like to have lunch inside this place" Harry answered through gritted teeth.

Zabini laughed, Potter, despite being his boss and a bloody Gryffindor of mind forever, was a strange wizard who sometimes knew how to entertain him. "Anyway, here were empty potion vials, the table, the food and the folding cot on the other side indicate that someone was sleeping in this place "he pointed to the other side of the cellar

"The shop clerk, maybe?"

"Impossible" Zabini shook his head "We asked his competitor next door, the owner of Slug & Jiggers Apothecary told us the boy went out from here to nine every night after closing the place, apparently the old man had nothing more to do than spy people out of his shop" he raised an eyebrow

"Rodolphus and Greyback?" He asked again.

"That's right, we found hair and fingerprints that correspond to the two of them"

"I see" Harry nodded his head

"We also examined the empty vials of the potions here, most of them were potions to treat wounds, broken bones and blood loss"

They both decided that the smell was too much, and they left the cellar while they kept talking

Harry folded and put his handkerchief back inside his jacket, he crossed his arms, reasoning Zabini's words "Probably, they both lived here during these days trying to heal the wounds of Rabastan until he inevitably died, at that time they probably do a bunk leaving the responsibility of the body to the store clerk"

"I also thought about that, but we have other more serious problems, I was afraid that their stay here wasn't just to help Lestrange" Zabini said seriously

"You mean the blood in the whole shop?" Harry raised an eyebrow, leaning on the counter

Zabini nodded "There are a lot of traces of blood transported throughout the house that don't correspond to the corpse of Rabastan Lestrange, but the objects apparently in good condition around make us discard some kind of fight with some other wizard here, and the blood also doesn't match the records we have in Azkaban of his brother Rodolphus or Greyback"

"Greyback is a very unstable werewolf, probably brought some dead victim" was Harry's response "We must find the identity of the victim in any way"

"We did it but the printed fingerprints found in one of the doors and the other one on the table inside the cellar correspond not only to one victim but to two in fact, two of ours"

"Two of ours?" Harry blinked in surprise. "Who?" It was not usual for two ministry employees to be caught helping death eaters, especially when the minister's new law was for all employees to give blood records, wand records and fingerprints as a prevention to avoid infiltrating a spy. "

"John Dawlish and Theodore Nott"

John Dawlish? Harry had already doubted from the beginning since he was the one who gave him the confidential files of Hermione

"Is not Theodore Nott working for the Department of Mysteries and Dawlish an Auror?" He wanted to confirm.

Zabini nodded again "They are, but Nott is the one who worries me most in this situation"

"Couldn't it be an Auror spying on us more dangerous here?" Harry raised an eyebrow

"It would be if we hadn't found the remains of a Time Turner and if we didn't know Nott works in the Time Room inside the Department of Mysteries"

Harry frowned. "'A Time Turner?"

"At least what remains of one" From the pocket of his trousers, Zabini took out a transparent plastic bag with metal parts attached to a small hourglass and he offered it to him

Harry raised it over his head, so the light from above would illuminate it and he could see it more clearly, the Time Turner had no inscription in it, something unusual on a time turner "This is just a prototype of Time Turner, if it was a real one they wouldn't have left it behind" he lowered it, putting it in his own pocket of his trousers "Still, if they already made a prototype and have Theodore Nott still alive with them, it will not be long before they make one that can actually work"

"There was no other body besides Lestrange so Dawlish and Nott must still be alive" Zabini pointed out "I don't think they are working for the Death Eaters under their own decision"

"What makes you think that?"

"Because besides the healing potions, we found remains of Polyjuice Potion and Antidote to Common Poisons within some vials"

Harry frowned, that didn't make sense

If they had John Dawlish and Theodore Nott why would they need Polyjuice Potion?

Unless Dawlish was not useful alive but dead. Only as an indispensable ingredient for the potion

So, why the Antidote to Common Poisons?

Blackmail maybe? Was that the incentive for Theodore Nott?

"They probably are impersonating Dawlish" said Harry

"Why would they need to impersonate Dawlish?" Zabini asked, confused.

"Because Dawlish is probably dead, it would be easier for them that way" he explained "Anything else that I should know Zabini?" Harry raised an eyebrow, it was a little irritating to him the way Zabini always seemed to say things by halves

"Only one last thing, a small detail" Zabini cleared his throat, folding his handkerchief with apparent indifference, he was somewhat reluctant to answer "The secret hole inside the book where we find the Time Turner… Well, examining it in detail we realized the book belongs to the private library of the Malfoy family" he hadn't wanted to tell Potter about this information without talking to his friend first but despite his loyalty and friendship towards Draco, the situation was very tantalising and dangerous to waste time in this way, if this information was hidden from the head of Aurors it could be a suicide for the British magic world especially when it came to a situation as delicate as it was travel in time

"Malfoy?" Harry frowned and watched Zabini nod.

Bloody hell!

Harry knew he was right in distrusting Malfoy, he couldn't help but have that feeling of satisfaction growing inside him about the idea of being right about Hermione's criteria, but now was not the time for one, I told you, now he had to go back to the Ministry of Magic and face Malfoy to confess his crimes "I'm going back to the ministry, you stay here and take pictures and samples of this place" he ordered Zabini, turning to leave the shop

"Wait, Potter, Draco doesn't know anything about this!" Zabini yelled at him worried about his friend but Harry ignored him, rolling his eyes at the naivety of Zabini and Hermione over Malfoy

He disappeared out of Knockturn Alley to appear only one street away from the ministry, a dark place where no Muggle would see him.

Harry strode to the Ministry of Magic, hurrying inside to the Aurors office where he hoped Ron and Malfoy were still talking to Neville and Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary's store clerk, it would be easier for him to stop Malfoy if he was inside the interrogation cell.

Just when he was only three doors away from reaching the interrogation cell, he heard loud noises coming from inside a door, he stopped in surprise

What the blooding hell was that?!

The noise had come inside the Potion-Mixing Room, a laboratory the ministry used to examine the evidence, remains of potions, substances, blood and fingerprints of the scenes in the crimes

Maybe a potion accident?

He opened the door

The whole place was filled with a thick cloud of smoke covering it. He heard sounds of someone complaining in pain, Things falling and a peculiar, familiar voice muttering bad words not at all like her. "Hermione?" a spell hit the wall above his head, he crouched in surprise "Hermione is me, Harry!" he tried to stop her, another spell at his side, hitting a cabinet from which potions fell to the ground _"Ventus"_ he pointed with his wand towards the rooftop, the strong wind forced the smoke out through the open door of the place

His vision cleared, Hermione was sitting on the floor, her back recharged in one of the empty cauldrons of the potions lab, one of her hands covered her eyes while with the other she mechanically cast spell randomly in all directions, preventing anyone from approaching her "Hermione stop!" but she wasn't listening, she seemed blinded in her decision to protect herself from anyone who wants to be within her reach

Hermione's head was moving desperately to all sides, she tried to stand up but seemed too confused or lethargic to stand, when Harry saw her fall again, he took this opportunity to approach her and take the wand from her hands "Let go, get away from me!" a hasty blow came to Harry's cheek. That made him a little disconnected, he suddenly felt identified with Malfoy in his third year at school

 _Hermione had great strength_

Harry frowned, taking Hermione's hands as he climbed onto his lap to immobilize her. "Hermione, I'm Harry!" He yelled at her, but now, looking at her face, he could see the black bandage over Hermione's hazel eyes. .

It was a Transfiguration spell used to conjure a blindfold, but… Why Hermione could not get rid of it?

Even so, Harry had to try to do it in the easiest way possible, although if Hermione hadn't been able to get rid of it yet, there was probably something wrong with this spell. His wand pointed at the face of his friend _"Finite Incantatem"_ the golden lights of his wand covered her eyes and part of Hermione's head, the dark bandage disappeared from her eyes "Thanks to Merlin" Harry sighed satisfied

However, his concern didn't disappear when he saw that Hermione hadn't yet awakened. "Hermione?" Hermione's face was covered in sweat and traces of potions. It seemed as if she was having some kind of nightmare with her features contorted in a wince.

What had they done with Hermione?

"Potter, I need to talk to you!" Malfoy's irritating voice came in, behind him were Ron and Zabini, but he stopped his chatter when he saw Hermione fainting on the floor

"Hermione, what the blooding hell happened to her?" Ron exploded

"I don't know Ron, when I got here she was under the _Obscuro_ spell, she was blindfolded and she was too nervous, she was casting spells all over the place. I just stopped the spell over her eyes and she fainted" Harry tried to excuse himself

Had he done something wrong?

Had his decision been reckless?

"It was not Potter's fault, she touched the cursed object of her own free will" the three turned to see Zabini who was standing next to a table, in his hands were the remains of a small golden object

"What kind of cursed object are we talking about, Blaze?" Malfoy asked.

"A container" He answered "A very paradoxical magical container, destined only to keep inside a limited amount of spells"

"How is it that you know it?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Because almost nobody knows them, it's very dark ancestral magic so only a couple of these relics are destined to pure blood wizards that come from a very select family" Zabini commented again, he knew the situation was very tense around, but that gave them no right to distrust him too, not when he was singing as beautifully as a _Fwooper_ and as loquaciously as a _Jarvey_

What lack of magnanimity on their part, they didn't know how to appreciate his knowledge

Granger would surely appreciate it, well, if she wasn't passed out on the floor because of her own passionate interest in this kind of deadly routines

How was the Japanese calling these people? Something strange related about a divine wind

Ah, yes... _kamikaze_

"Zabini I'm talking to you!" he jumped almost from the fright that Potter gave him with the scream rumbling near his sensitive ear

He blinked in confusion as the three men in front of him looked at him expectantly. "What in Morgan's name do you want from me?"

The three snorted irritably, Zabini could be so desperate and clueless that it was impossible not to get angry quickly with him "Blaze, we want to know if you could tell by the remains of that cursed magic relic what kind of spells were inside" Malfoy asked, taking the bridge the nose with one of your hands

"Yes, I did it" he nodded

"And will it be possible for you to tell us now?" Ron asked now.

"Yes, I could" they waited for Zabini to speak again "Potter already knows the _Obscuro_ spell that fell on Granger's eyes, besides that the Smokescreen Spell probably surrounded the place when Potter found her, am I wrong?" He asked looking at Harry who immediately nodded according to his assumption "In addition to that, there was only one last spell, probably it's responsible for Granger remains unconscious, fatigued by the effort she made to combat it. I'm talking about a Jelly-Brain Jinx"

"Jelly-Brain Jinx?" Harry was scandalized

Jelly-Brain Jinx. A Jinx that affects the target's mental processes

"Why use those spells, why not just kill her?" Malfoy asked himself thoughtfully

"That's what worries you, ferret, why didn't they kill her?" Ron hissed

"I didn't want to make it sound in that nasty way you speak of to my words, Weasley" Malfoy spit him back

"Probably because it was just a distraction, they didn't want to kill her yet" Harry replied, thinking to himself out loud too

"Not you too Harry" Ron rolled his eyes "Why would they want to distract her?"

"Why was Granger in this place in the first place?" Zabini asked, raising an eyebrow wisely

Harry opened his eyes, when the answer came to his mind. Raising his head he looked around but apart from a couple of things thrown away and a strange and slimy thing inside a silver tray there was nothing else "Where is the corpse of Rabastan Lestrange?"

Draco also understood what Potter was referring to "They took him away. Rodolphus and Greyback entered to the Ministry of Magic and took Rabastan's body" How they did it? Now was not the time to talk about it. "But, why would Rabastan's corpse be useful to them?"

"They probably forgot something that only Rabastan had in their possession, they tried to get it back by coming to the ministry," Ron said.

"No..." they had done this on purpose, letting the body get here, that Hermione would find it, that little gift was inevitably for her.

Or maybe they had indeed forgotten something

"Any idea you want to share with us Potter?" Malfoy brought him back to the real world with his question

Looking at Malfoy, he remembered why he had returned so quickly to the Ministry of Magic "Malfoy, why was your family book in the hands of those Death Eaters?" He asked, though it was more a pertinent accusation

Malfoy snorted "Yeah, Blaze already told me about that" then he rolled his eyes at Potter's cunning look on him "And as I said to him before and I say to you now Potter, that book does belong to my family but, my family's library is in Malfoy Manor, and I remind you, Potter, if you have already forgotten" he raised an eyebrow with mockery "Malfoy Manor is under the supervised authority of the Ministry of Magic so nobody in my family lives there"

"Are you saying ferret that the Death Eaters are at Malfoy Manor under the noses of our Aurors?" Ron said, his face taking on an intense red of anger.

Malfoy looked at Ron "Not necessarily under their noses Weasley" Suddenly his bearing straightened proudly "Malfoy Manor is full of secret passages, under the acres of the garden there are more corridors that have not been seen by anyone outside the confidential circle of my family"

"Death Eaters you mean?" Ron interrupted

"What I mean, Weasley, is that they probably used underground secret corridors to enter Malfoy Manor, so they would not alarm the Aurors surrounding the place," he replied with arrogance.

"Potter!" Kingsley came through the door, anger raging all over his face. "I want to know what's happening here! Mr. Mulpepper came to my office to tell me that you have arrested his shop clerk" He looked at the four of them "I want you to answer me" Then his gaze fell to his feet, where Hermione was still unconscious "and why is Miss Granger lying on the floor?"

Everyone sighed, there was nothing more tedious than having to talk to Kingsley

.

 **St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, London, England, Great Britain**

Harry tried to fix his wrinkled jacket a little while walking down the hospital corridor, the old and well-known healer Augustus Pye had just authorized him to enter Hermione's room. He hadn't been able to avoid the look of self-sufficiency that grew even more in his bright smile at the look of resentment Malfoy gave him when the healer Pye had told him that Hermione had been asking untiringly for him.

After having to go to the office of the minister of magic while Ron took Hermione to St. Mungo, Harry explained everything of what happened to Kingsley without omitting any information, of course, Kingsley had demanded he speak with Hermione before going to Malfoy Manor for her to answer all the doubts he had before provoking a magical raid of which they were still not completely sure about the intentions of the Death Eaters. Once he exchanged information with Hermione, they were already authorized to surround Malfoy Manor

"We're here Harry." Hannah Abbott's voice brought him back to his reality.

He looked at her. She was living proof of how time changed so radically. He remembered after they had graduated from Hogwarts, she had become landlady of the Leaky Cauldron, living there with her husband Neville.

Now she was working here in St. Mungo

Hannah Abbott was not a healer yet, she was the apprentice of Healer Augustus Pye, although her hard work had been well rewarded and was now his right-hand. Harry had seen her often since Augustus Pye was the official Healer of the Aurors line.

He looked at her and smiled "Thank you so much for joining me Hannah"

She snorted amused "It's not like I just came to accompany you, Mr. Potter, I came here to see how our restless patient is still" she opened the door for him

He entered first, Hermione was sitting on the bed, looking towards the window of her room, she seemed lost in her thoughts, and she hadn't even noticed his presence. Harry couldn't help but look at the red marks on the temples of her head and a thin cut on her cheek, touching her nose and reaching almost to her eye "Hermione" he called her

She turned to see them and smiled for a moment "Harry" she said, then her eyes went back to the window, ignoring them again

"Hermione I came to check you one last time before you leave" Hannah said, she didn't seem very happy with her words

Harry frowned "Leave? So suddenly can she get out of here?" that surprised Harry

Hannah sighed defeated as she approached Hermione's bed and pulled her wand out of the white coat she was wearing "Nothing that we approve but she is determined to get out of here right now, all we have left to do is examine her one more time before she do a bunk out of here" Hannah lifted Hermione's face to her as she pointed her wand in her eyes to check her and at the same time, trying to make her feel guilty under her gaze, but Hermione didn't seem to care

Her senses didn't seem interested in anything in particular, she seemed to be somewhere else away from this room

Her eyes seemed to be debating about realism or fantasy

Hannah couldn't blame her, Jelly-Brain Jinx was used to play around with people's minds, creating hallucinations that turned out to be nightmares more than anything else

A form of torture that apparently didn't end up being dark magic

But she couldn't do anything if Hermione feverishly refused to stay and rest

Hannah sighed, pushing her illuminated wand out over Hermione's face. "You're better, although you should keep taking your potions, the spell marks over your eyes will disappear in a couple of days more"

Her words seemed to bring her to reality, she realized when Hermione's pupils finally focused on her "Oh, yeah - Thank you Hannah" although she didn't seem to care about her own health

"Harry" Hannah turned to see him, he was standing in front and looking at them in silence

His name was the only thing that seemed to bring Hermione's attention "Harry?" she relapsing on his presence in the room, but this time, she didn't ignore him again

"Harry, I'm going to ask you please to make sure this lady takes all her potions" from the bedside table, Hannah took a parchment and extended it to him "On this parchment are written all the instructions and precautions she must take care for two weeks"

He took the parchment in his hands smiling broadly as he witnessed Hermione's look of embarrassment, as if she had been caught doing some mischief, something that only happened a few times in life "Don't worry, Hannah, I will take care this lady accurately all your recommendations, without any exception" he replied with amusement

Hermione snorted, falsely outraged at the child treatment she was receiving from both of them, although she really felt welcomed by the concern she was receiving, she couldn't avoid the anguished anxiety that caused at the same time

She had missed London to death

Things had been going so fast lately and so unwary that she was anguished that at any moment she would wake up to see herself again involved in some work in New York without Harry at her side, or worse…

In Shaanxi Province, alone, imprisoned and begging for her death. Of course her stay in China made her think inevitably of her recent hallucinations Jelly-Brain Jinx had created so monstrously in her head.

Because It wasn't that she was a witch without feelings or fears, on the contrary, the fear of death was the greatest incentive to create the strength to survive, especially if it was a useless death, as it would have been if she had ended up dying in that place. She still felt embarrassed when she thought of those horrible thoughts about giving up that had plagued her for so many years in that place.

By Merlin, she was Hermione Granger!

If at that time, she had acted more logically and less sentimental, at this time, she wouldn't have been as plagued with problems as she already was

But what did that matter now? What's done it is done and isn't good crying over spilt potion.

"Hermione!" The door flew open, an exhausted Ron entered through it, breathing heavily.

Why did Ron always know how to make the loudest of appearances?

Although she could not deny it, it was that strange and annoying notability he had to know when it was the need to distract them from the bitterest situations

Hermione smiled at her red-haired friend grateful for his company, but she couldn't help the comment full of reproach that came out of her lips. Ron always provoked that very nature in her "Ron, have you been running down the hall? This is a hospital, it's not a place for you to be wandering out of control"

Instead of getting angry, Ron smiled back at her, moving closer to her bed. He preferred to hear her complain about him instead of seeing her lying unconscious in a hospital bed "I'm glad to know you're in a very good mood to reproach me with that vexatious voice of yours" he put his hand on her shoulder

She snorted, rolling her eyes "You always got the emotional range of a teaspoon" she put her left hand on the one Ron had placed on her shoulder "Thank you for being here with me"

"Of course I would be here, you are our best friend" he tried not to show the importance of his presence

"Hey Ron, with Hermione's health, is your mother still going to have the party she plans to do next week?" Hannah asked suddenly.

The sudden question seemed to terrify the existence of Ron Weasley

"What party?" Harry asked confused

Hermione withdrew Ron's hand from her shoulder "Tell me Ronald, tell me that you not only have a party for me at your mother's house"

"I didn't do it, she planned everything, and I just forgot to tell you!" He raised his hands in defensive signal

"RON!" Hermione shouted annoyed

Harry rolled his eyes, preventing himself from the fight his best friends would begin

Some things simply wouldn't change, regardless the time or things that will happen

 **Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England, Great Britain**

Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter remained quiet and uncomfortable as they watched Hermione from a considerable distance for their survival

Right now they were all in an underground corridor of Malfoy Manor, walking with Draco Malfoy ahead, being their guide here. This place was awkwardly similar to the Chamber of Secrets, a huge place filled with hallways wide enough for people to walk here easily

 _At least there were no pipes_

The tricky thing here was that this place, according to Malfoy, had miles of passageways, tunnels and gates between acres that belonged to his family. So if you didn't know the place perfectly, they could get lost here for days or weeks.

Harry didn't mind swallowing his pride and letting Malfoy lead them to the place where the Malfoy's private library was, where they believed Rodolphus Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback were hiding. What worried Harry and Ron right now was Hermione's bad mood

And despite the fact they had left the hospital about three hours ago, the sudden movements and the severe look of Hermione, who was behind Malfoy, let them know the restricted anger she still kept for both of them.

How could Ron have dragged him into this?

It was not like she wasn't talking to them anymore, they had talked to her. At least they had talked about all the information related to the case of Lestrange and Greyback

Which reminded Harry, his talk with Hermione had only brought him more doubts

Hermione told them Rabastan had died of an overdose of potions, among which he had been ingesting Polyjuice Potion, so it was obvious to Harry the realization that it was him who was impersonating Dawlish

It was obvious to them too, to think Dawlish was dead and being used only as a potion ingredient. Nott had to be alive, his knowledge was the only thing that kept him from suffering the same fate as Dawlish for now, at least, until he gave them a Time Turner that was completely useful.

He was a little worried when he learned what Hermione had done to know what kind of potions Rabastan had ingested, but he didn't blame her, they were short on time, it was necessary to do a couple of unpleasant things if they wanted to avoid a catastrophe

Hermione had also told them she hadn't had time to know anything else because the moment she tried to open Rabastan's heart it was the precise moment the cursed object exploded over her. She said at the same moment her eyes were covered and before she was trapped inside the Jelly-Brain Jinx, she had heard the voice of Rodolphus and Greyback, fighting to take back Rabastan's body, that's why she had cast spells so blindly all over the place, hoping at least to hit some of them.

He told her what he knew, she came to the same conclusion he made about Nott and Dawlish. She was also alarmed at the idea of a Time Turner falling into the hands of Death Eaters, Hermione and he were sure that their goal would be to travel through time to avoid the death of Voldemort, and to prevent any of the two falls of Voldemort would be the end of the magical world.

"Potter" Zabini wrapped his arm around his neck, dropping all his huge body on him, Harry tried to push him away disgusted by his proximity but he couldn't, Zabini was a big guy, not only in height he were ahead of them all a huge lead, but he was also a guy almost as stocky as he was irritating

"Zabini, is it necessary for you to be so bloody close to me?" Harry asked annoyed

His boss's anger only seemed to amuse Blaze more "It is" his other hand circled Ron's shoulders on the other side. Zabini's head went back and forth between Ron and Harry who tried in vain to remove the big Auror out of them "I'm too curious to let go of the doubt that I have, especially with how tedious it's to walk here, we've been here for almost an hour and we still have not reached the house, I'm about to die of boredom"

"So, why don't you go and talk to your Malfoy friend? I bet he is more than happy to rabbiting with you" Ron said annoyed

"I already told you, I want to ask you something"

"Ask what?" Harry asked

Zabini smirked "I wanted to know, what you did to our adorable boss, you pair of berks? You had to do something to her because once she left her hospital room with you two behind her, she was already turned into a wild beast" Zabini asked.

Ron and Harry exchanged a quick glance from between Zabini's arms. They weren't the only ones who had noticed the hysterical behaviour of Hermione

And they hadn't been the only ones to listen to Zabini's recent words, they realized when Hermione suddenly stopped and sharply turned to face them, causing everyone around them to stop also to see them. Hermione didn't take long to start shouting indignantly "Ronald, I can't believe you didn't tell me your mother was having a party for me!" She couldn't contain herself from the bad time the recent news was provoking her

"Blimey Hermione! Why are you so upset about? You know my mother, it's not like she asked my opinion to do anything! "Ron yelled back

Hermione crossed her arms, ignoring the surprised whispers of the other Aurors around her "At least you could tell me ahead of time, when you planned to tell me? How did you plan to have me attend then?"

"It's a surprise party, you're not supposed to know it!" Ron again defended himself

Ron's sudden reply took Hermione by disbelief, she had been so stubborn in keeping her defensive behaviour that she had forgotten the good gesture a party represented, especially coming from someone like Molly Weasley

She took a deep breath, anger had become ashamed "I'm not used to attending parties anymore, Ron," she said softly, almost as if she didn't want anyone to hear her answer

Ron snorted "Doesn't New York know welcome parties?" he asked sarcastically

"There was no party-time for me even before New York" she replied, shrugging. She turned back to Draco who saw her with a raised eyebrow "Keep walking Draco" she ordered him

Malfoy looked at her for a couple of seconds before turning his back to her again, walking ahead of them

They all walked again. Ron crossed his arms "I guess then you'll have to make some time now, because next week my mother is able to drag you out of Grimmauld Place to take you to the burrow" he said with mockery. Hermione turned to see him again, dedicating to him her best murderous look that she could, but he didn't flinch, on the contrary, he continued to speak with her in the same tone of voice full of challenge "Unless you want to go to my mother's house and tell her you don't want to go to the party she worked so hard to do just for you" Hermione pressed her lips together as she frowned. She did not say anything else and just returned her sight to the front of the corridor, striding

"That's what I thought" Ron smiled, proud to have won an argument with the always know-it-all Hermione Granger

They walked for a while longer in silence, their footsteps and the odd childish and boring complaints of Zabini was the only thing that was heard in the whole place.

"We are here," Malfoy spoke, standing next to a giant bronze statue in the shape of Peacock, the beautiful tail feathers spread out in front of them.

"Are you sure it's here, Malfoy?" Ron asked suspiciously. He expected to see snakes at the entrance to the hidden corridors of the Malfoy family, such as the chamber of secrets, but the peacock in front of him was a disappointment he wasn't willing to admit freely

"I am Weasley, behind this statue there is a staircase that leads to a Drawing room, through the corridor that follows, there is a door that leads directly to my family's library. So you better have your wands ready, Lestrange and Greyback will not wait to play fair, we'll be easy targets if someone of us is found unarmed" Draco pulled his wand out of his belt holster

He waited for the others to take out their wands before touching one of the peacock's feathers, making the statue begin to move at the same time as the wall, showing the beginning of a stone staircase

The peacock feathers closed completely, leaving the way clear for them "Who wants to be the first to climb the stairs?" Draco joked

But Harry who until now had kept silent, couldn't see the fun in the current situation, walking among Ron and Zabini, he put himself in front of Malfoy and Hermione "I will go first"

"A brave Gryffindor to death, Innit Potter?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow, losing the fun at what he thought, it was an impertinent behaviour, something not unusual coming from Potter "If that's what you want Potter…" He stepped aside, taking Hermione's arm so she would get out of the way too "Who am I to deny it to you? Go ahead Potter, be my guest"

Harry ignored the malice in Malfoy's last words and walked ahead of them, the wand in front of him, looking around cautiously. Climbing the stairs, in front of him was just as Malfoy had said, a Drawing room, filled only with dust and cobwebs, it seemed that nobody had stepped on this place for a very long time

Would it be possible they had been wrong?

He continued walking, leaving the room, crossing the hall and entering the front door, where Malfoy had said was the library "It's empty" Harry said in the direction of the people behind him, lowering his wand

"Maybe they went somewhere else" Ron commented

"No" Hermione rejected his speculation, because despite being weak, the foul odour of a decomposing body was still present in the air "They are here, maybe in another part of the house"

"How do you know?" Asked Zabini

Hermione sighed defeated "I really didn't want to do this" she murmured. From the pocket of her trousers she took a handkerchief stained with blood, the smell that came off was quite strong

"Blimey Hermione! What's that? "Ron asked, his face showing signs of getting sick just from seeing the repulsive object in Hermione's hands

"Rabastan's handkerchief" she replied simply. Before she checked the corpse in the Potion-Mixing Room Aurors had rightly removed all of Rabastan's belongings from the pockets of his clothes, something she was grateful now because it was what she would use to find him _"Avenseguim"_ she conjured the spell, throwing the handkerchief up. The handkerchief then spun around for a couple of seconds in the air before flying away from their sight "COME ON!" Hermione screamed, running after the newly converted tracking device

She wasn't an enthusiast of this spell because she had to be followed it quickly, she hates having to run after something. She pulled her wand out of her holster again, running in the corridors and down the stairs, going through the entrance hall of the Manor

She glimpsed the two men in front of her once they entered to another Drawing room, a much larger than the previous one. The handkerchief fell on top of the body lying on the ground, it was Rabastan's corpse

Rodolphus Lestrange was the first to attack her, but she blocked his spell with a quick movement of her wand "Stop if you don't want to die here!" Harry yelled behind her.

"Potter!" Greyback growled

"Really Draco, are you helping these blood traitors and Mudbloods? I expected decent behaviour coming from you, I can see your father didn't manage to instruct you correctly" Rodolphus scoffed

"I am quite aware of my own decisions without my father's opinion anymore, thank you for your concern" Malfoy replied sarcastically, his wand pointed at his aunt's husband "On the other hand, I think Potter just offer you the last chance to save your life and Greyback's if you two decide to lower your wands at this moment"

"Let me then ask you something first, my dear nephew, how did you know we were here?" Rodolphus spoke again, his wand had not moved from the place on his outstretched hand in front of them

"It's your fault, dear uncle" Draco smiled "You took my family's book to that pigsty place Mr. Mulpepper dares to call Apothecary, age has made you incompetent"

Rodolphus frowned. "Then it was you, you took our Time Turner?"

"Time Turner prototype, you mean" Draco rolled his eyes

"And the Mudblood took the design drawing of our real time Turner" Rodolphus accused her, stopping on her presence for the second time at that moment

She felt the look of others on her "I didn't take anything of yours" she complained

"The parchment in Rabastan's possessions, you must have taken it after outraging his body" Rabastan pointed out

"My bad, I checked the body of your brother, but the possessions he had among his clothes were in the hands of the Aurors, I didn't take any parchment" she looked at him sure of herself but not daring to look at anyone around her

Her reaction seemed to exasperate Rodolphus "You're lying!" He shouted "We entered the Aurors office, there was nothing in the clothes!" He confessed

Harry's blood ran cold with the revelation. Where was the parchment then? Too dangerous to be lost somewhere, he and Hermione a while ago had talked about the possibility of a Time Turner being left in the wrong hands, probably something similar to the calamity that would happen if it were in the hands of Rodolphus and Greyback

"Am I? Then why didn't you take me if you thought I had it?" She spat "You are simply inquiring, you don't even know where that parchment is"

"Shut up!" Greyback roared _"Crucio!"_

 _"Fumos!"_ Rodolphus summoned at the same time that Greyback attacked with the curse

Hermione barely had time to remove herself from the curse directed at her, unfortunately the scream of pain that she heard coming from Ron let her know that he had been behind her and he hadn't had the same luck in avoiding it.

Rodolphus's spell created a defensive cloud of smoke of his wand that made it difficult for them to see around the entire room. They couldn't cast any spell without the possibility of damaging a partner, of course, she was the only one who thought that way because the spells began to fly over and to the sides of her head without any care or caution.

 _Men!_ She rolled her eyes, they could be so selfless

She crouched down, hardly trying to focus her eyes but all she could see was Ron trying to stand up after receiving that Cruciatus and the lights of the enchantments all over the place. She crawled back, trying to clear her eyesight and think carefully before committing some madness in the same way as the others in this room.

But, what to do?

Her back then touched what she thought was a wall, but as she leaned her back over it, it opened and she fell backward. She hit her head hard, closing her eyes in pain from the thunderous annoyance that caused her, stupid door that nobody completely closed

The moment she opened her eyes she was scared to find a pair of dead eyes looking at her from the corner in front of her. She stood up surprised and walked away a few steps, Theodore Nott's body was sitting looking at the floor where until a few seconds ago she was lying

Why was Nott dead?

What had he done for them to get rid of him?

Or maybe what he hadn't done?

She looked at the corpse carefully. He looked emaciated, as if he had not eaten anything for a while, his hands were dirty and hurt, but probably that was due to having worked tirelessly in making a Time Turner that could meet all the expectations of Lestrange and Greyback. After the first fright she finally approached him, kneeling until she was at the same height, she took his chin to examine his face more thorough. His mouth was slightly open and there seemed to be some kind of liquid draining from the corner of his lips. It smelled strange, different from anything she had smelled before, no poison or potion that she knew.

What was it?

She put her nose almost millimetres from the mouth of the corpse, frowning, she tried to identify even something that was familiar to her from that unusual smell, she was familiar with some ingredient, but she couldn't or didn't remember exactly what it was, she cursed herself internally, since this afternoon her mind still felt so chaotic, as if things weren't clear in her thoughts

She closed her eyes, determined to discover some of this

"If you're going to start kissing that dead man, I better get out of here" Draco's voice surprised her, standing up hastily as if she had been caught doing something improper

"Draco, you scared me!" She rebuked him

"Yes, I already realized that" Malfoy crossed his arms "I see, they were exasperated by the delay of Nott and decided to kill him" he commented, looking at the body on the floor of his house

"I don't think they killed Nott, I think he did it himself" Hermione answered

"Do you think Nott killed himself?" Draco raised an eyebrow

"He probably couldn't bear the conditional responsibility Fenrir and Rodolphus put on him, he probably decided to end his life before they did it, this way, they wouldn't have the Time Turner either" she inquired. His gaze went to Draco who was bleeding from one hand, probably due to the duel with Greyback and Lestrange "Where is Harry?" She asked him suddenly, remembering that she had just walked away from the battle

Malfoy snorted at the lack of delicacy in her question "Your precious Potter is fine" he growled "He, Weasley and Blaze are talking to the other Aurors outside"

"Are Lestrange and Greyback still alive?" She asked again, ignoring his bad mood

"We arrested them" he confessed

"What about the corpse of Rabastan?" She asked again

"The Aurors took him back to the Ministry of Magic" Draco looked at her, examining her reactions in detail but Hermione had learned to be as reserved as a _Jobberknoll_ "Did you take the parchment that Rodolphus talked about?" He asked clearly

She looked at him, she had a serious face and although she didn't let him notice, the blond boy's question had surprised her, not because of the distrust of his tone of voice but rather because she thought he knew her better than that, if he had known her better, he would have remembered that no matter how much he was forcing her she wouldn't answer and less if he was imposing her to do it. Possibly the only thing he would get from her if he kept nagging her would be a punch in the face "I didn't take anything from Rabastan's belongings" wasn't a lie, at least not a lie completely

The valuable parchment belonged in fact to Theodore Nott who could no longer confess the whereabouts if he was aware of the place where such a transcendental object had been found after his death

"That's what I thought" Draco sighed in defeat. Even though he knew previously what her reply would be, he hadn't lost anything with trying to ask anyway "We should get out of here. Blaze Research team will be responsible for taking the necessary samples for us to show the Wizengamot in the trial against Lestrange and Greyback"

"You're right" she nodded, but kept standing in her place

Malfoy was the first to look away from hers, his eyes descended to the body on the floor of the house. "I'll take the corpse out of here" Pulling out his wand, Draco levitated the lifeless body of Nott, opening the door with his free hand, ignoring his bleeding wound while he tried not to touch the corpse with any part of his body

"I'll go in a moment, I'll just briefly check the room" she said. Draco looked dissatisfied with her words but said nothing, he left the room in silence with Nott's body behind him

Hermione closed the door, sighing deeply as she was left alone in the room. She knew that Draco had not swallowed her lie about the whereabouts of the Time Turner parchment but for now he wouldn't insist anymore, at least until he had any evidence to corner her

She looked around disinterestedly, there was nothing else in this place that attracted her attention but she hadn't wanted to be present anymore under the suspicious eyes of Draco accusing her, it was uncomfortable and she already had enough with Harry's

Maybe it had been a bad idea to keep the parchment, maybe it would have been better to destroy it, and however, the temptation had been too much for her to be able to just simply get rid of it

What should she do?

She was still in time to destroy it

Her thoughts were interrupted momentarily by the sudden noise on the other side of the room. Incessant vibrations about what seemed to be heard from wood, a shake in the wardrobe in one of the corners of the room made her look at it in silence, the sinister sound of scratches inside the wardrobe doors

As if it were struggling incessantly to get rid of its imprisonment

Hermione looked at the object without even blinking, now she was fully aware of the situation. Suddenly another shake louder inside, the wardrobe doors trembled, almost screaming for release. Hermione pointed her wand, ready to fight the approaching danger, whatever it was she refused to retract her position

She didn't have to wait long enough for the doors to open, after a thud the wardrobe seemed to struggle not to be knocked down and stand in its place

The appearance of an amorphous non-being who quickly approached to move uncontrollably in her presence. The amortal shape-shifting was trying to take a specific form and then she knew what it was about

It was a Boggart

Just when she was ready to defend herself against it, the words of the previously thought spell died on her lips with the apparition that was presented in front of her

She stopped breathing, her eyes widened and by inertia she lowered her wand, unable to think or act rationally, prey to the fear that flooded her. The cold sweat of her hands made her lose the grip of her wand, a nasty chill ran down her spine over her now numb body as the Boggart transformed into what she couldn't believe was her greatest fear approaching her

She backed away terrified, anguished tears began to dim her eyes, she couldn't stop the sobs that came out of her "No..." she shook her head "No" She couldn't bear even the idea this was happening to her. She closed her eyes tightly, the awful phobia of opening them and seeing that vision was still there, in front of her

Her trembling hands went to her ears, covering them. She kept backing until her back was on what she thought was the wall. When the space for where she could do a bunk ended, she let herself slide until she reached the floor. On the floor of the room, sitting with her legs contracted until they touched her chest, her head hiding between her knees while she ordered herself to stand up and face the figure in front of her, she scolded herself internally for her weakness over a simple and stupid Boggart

This wasn't the first time she saw a Boggart, although it was less frightening to see a Professor McGonagall saying she had failed at everything than what she was seeing now

Also, it was easier to say things than to do them

Tears of rage and impotence soaked her knees as she tried futilely to calm herself down, but the sound of her desperate sobs grew louder.

"Hermione!" Harry's worried shout baffled her. Her fear had been displaced almost instantly as her eyesight lifted, unable to believe she had heard his voice, but she hadn't imagined anything and the presence of Harry in front of her, blocking Boggart's path to reach her could corroborate it

With his arms outstretched Harry let the Boggart assimilate his deepest fear, forcing it to change shape again

She knew Harry's Boggart perfectly, so feeling protected by her best friend, she finally surrendered to the emotional weariness this case had cost her today. Closing her eyes, the last thing she heard was the firm voice of Harry pointing his wand severely at the Boggart _"Riddikulus!"_

.

 **Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, England**

Harry stared silently at a sleeping Hermione from the armchair in front of her where he was sitting. Everything that had happened today had left him exhausted, no, everyone was tired. However his doubts and his concern for Hermione refused to give him a break, that's why he was here with Hermione, both inside his room in Grimmauld Place while she was lying asleep on his bed and he watched her quietly without daring to remove his eyes from her figure, afraid to find her in a state similar to how he had found her in that room inside Malfoy Manor, terrified in front of a Boggart

When the three of them had left an unconscious Hermione inside his room because none of them had dared to go through the confidence of even putting one foot in her room and once Malfoy had gone to his own room in silence, Ron and he had talked about the apparent deeper fear of Hermione, Ron had even made a bad joke about it, one Harry hadn't been able to tolerate hearing and had rebuked his friend who,, embarrassed, had decided to leave him alone as well.

 _"I can't believe Hermione's deepest fear is herself! But you know what they say,_ _poisonous toadstools don't change their spots"_

 _"It's bloody brilliant!"_

Ron's words full of fun came to his mind but Harry didn't share the feelings with him, conversely, Harry had been disconcerted to witness Hermione in front of a Boggart with the same appearance as her while his best friend seemed to have broken on the floor, crying so heartbreakingly that it tore into pieces Harry's soul. But he couldn't blame Ron either because he hadn't noticed in what state Hermione was in, he had only focused on the Boggart in front of them, the Boggart itself had been aberrant enough to be ignored.

The Boggart hadn't been the identical image of Hermione, the being had presented itself as the silhouette of her friend but the figure seemed to fade and re-form behind a dark curtain of thick smoke

What had that meant?

If it had been an ordinary Boggart, Hermione's form would have looked like the original in every detail, but the one witnessed by Harry and Ron had seemed ethereal and dark, as if from another strange but similar to Hermione creature was

A creature more sinister than a Boggart

However, the Riddikulus enchantment used by him this afternoon supported the fact it was actually a Boggart. But…

Why did Hermione's Boggart look so strange?

Hermione

Hermione…

Since her recent arrival from New York she was so different, Harry felt as if he didn't know her anymore, but at the same time there were countless behaviours that made her look like the old Hermione

The one who was his friend, the one who was his rock, the only one who could and was his everything

So many confused thoughts were unavoidable to think

She was the only thing who lived eternally inside him, uncontrollably surrounding all his thoughts without her even noticing

 _Hermione_

What was he going to do with her?

She seemed rigid, strict and authoritarian, while at the same time so scary, nervous and cold. She was so strange and far away to him that the sensation knotted painfully inside his stomach and chest. The stealth and mystery that surrounded Hermione, whom he had always prided himself on knowing, was ending up driving him crazy.

He still had reservations about why she was gone, because he didn't swallow the lie disguised as cheap poetry she had said about wanting to learn more things in other places outside of London

 _There had to be another reason_

He got up from his armchair, unable to bear to watch her in silence. Walking to the bed, he sat down, his hand unconsciously stroking Hermione's head, gently examining her quiet sleeping face. Recording every detail in his mind, as if it were the first time he saw her

Despite the situation had led them to bring her with him at this time, he couldn't help but feel blessed to have her so close, to be able to touch her so solemnly

He had missed her so much

He didn't quite understand why she had uncertainties about him, because for him their friendship was so strong and intimate that even time itself could do nothing to change it. And it hurt to realize Hermione didn't share his feelings

Harry ignored his own insecurities and lay down on the bed beside her, his arms trembled around her waist, drawing her with agony towards him. He raggedly let out the air he didn't know was holding

Harry tried not to squeeze Hermione's sleeping body so hard, but he was so anxious, so happy

He closed his eyes, letting himself get drunk with the warmth of her body. He had dreamed of having her like this again since those days when they were alone in the forest of Dean, of course, back then he had reproached himself, embarrassed by even daring to think that way about her

But not now, _not anymore_

Suddenly he heard a gasp coming from the body nestled against his chest. He pulled back a couple of inches, looking down to where the noise came from. "Harry?" It was Hermione who had woken up and seemed surprised to find herself so close to him "Where are we?" She put her hands on his chest, trying to have a little more distance between them

Her eyes wandered over the walls of the room, trying to clarify her situation on her own

"My room" Harry answered

Hermione blinked. "Your room? What am I doing in your room?" She asked confused, trying to remove Harry's arms over her waist

But Harry's grip on her tightened, refusing to let her go "We didn't think you would appreciate us entering to your room especially if you were unconscious, so I suggested bringing you to my room" he explained but to his frustration she didn't seem pleased with his statement, on the contrary, she seemed distressed to be here with him "Does it bother you being here? Do you dislike my presence by your side?" He didn't bite his tongue with his direct questions, he needed to deal with this here and now, not caring to bother Hermione. He got closer to her, his own forehead touching Hermione's

He immediately felt the warmth of her breath and the insistent hammering of her racing heart against his

What seemed to alarm and fully awaken Hermione who immediately tried to keep some distance so they weren't so close to each other but the more she tried to get away from Harry the more he approached her against his body, stubborn and refusing to let her do a bunk "Are you afraid of me Hermione?" He asked on her cheek

Hermione let out a trembling sigh, her fearful hands clenched Harry's shirt and without noticing a blush covered her face "No, that's not-"

"It's okay" Harry interrupted her, his hand momentarily leaving her waist to close over the one she had on his shoulder, gently bringing it to his chest, over the place where his heart was "Mine is also the same way, so nervous because of you" Hermione's eyes widened, with his words, she stopped breathing after authenticating the genuineness of them

Harry's heart, in fact, throbbed as fast inside him as her own heart, almost as if they were in sync

Her face burned even more by the realization of what that fact represented, she tried to get away from him once again but without success "You can't run away from me anymore Hermione, you should just accept it, from now on I will not let you get away from me" His voice seemed menacingly amused

But Hermione wasn't having fun, she was so embarrassed and conflicted to have Harry so close to her "Please Harry ... let me go" she implored almost in a whisper, raising her face to confront him

Their eyes met

"Do you really want me to let you go?" Harry asked, his face had become solemn and his voice deadly serious

Hermione's mouth opened but the words were not formulated in her tongue. Even though her mind screamed internally for her to say _yes, because she didn't want him to touch her, that she didn't want him to be so close to her, that he should stop confusing her with such sweet words because she couldn't endure them._

But she didn't say them

She couldn't. No sound came out of her throat no matter how hard she tried the dirty lies that were invading his mind go outside, they simply drowned and died alone inside her. Because with the honest and desperate look Harry was giving her, she knew she wouldn't dare to say anything to hurt him, because she wouldn't bear to get him away from her anymore, much less lying so blatantly and cruelly to do so.

She couldn't take it anymore, she looked down, burying her face in Harry's chest, unable to kept confronting that penetrating gaze of him. Her hands snaked around to completely surround Harry's back, pulling him closer to her "No, don't go" she murmured, listening to Harry's sigh of relief against her hair, resting his cheek over her head

"I didn't intend to do it anyway, even if you asked me to do so" his answer brought a soft smile to her lips, happiness invaded Hermione, even after so many years, Harry still knew how to make her feel like the most special person in the world

"Thanks Harry"

Harry smiled too "You do not need to thank me for anything. Just let me be with you, that's all I'm asking back from you, Hermione" "Honestly Harry" she feigned irritation followed by a happy sigh "I can do that"

Harry laughed lightly, hugging a little tighter to her friend

.

.

.

.

Tzeentch felt the warmness running through his body once he entered the house of his mistress's friend, Harry Potter. Apparent saviour of the Wizarding world and the most important man in Hermione's life

 _The powerful wizard whom Tzeentch most hated_

Even so, Tzeentch couldn't help but give some credit to Harry Potter for the homey and how pleasant his house was, a place that was without a doubt very desirable to live, especially for him who never had a place to call home

But no matter how nice his house was, Tzeentch couldn't help but hate this place, hate Harry Potter and feel jealous about him and his relationship with Hermione. After all the stories Hermione had spoken so proudly about her best friend named Harry Potter, the dark elf had decided to hate that wizard whom Hermione had on such a high pedestal, so high appreciation inside her heart to the point of practically giving him all of her

Tzeentch tried to ignore the negative thoughts that went on inside him by just thinking about Harry Potter

Now, entering the home of his greatest enemy, just returned from Iceland the only thing he wanted was to see her so Tzeentch's first destiny was to look for his mistress, having already become accustomed to the path he had to follow to find her.

But he didn't find her

Tzeentch had walked the entire room and inside the suitcase but he hadn't been lucky in finding her

Where could she be?

He kept looking around the house, she wasn't in the drawing room, nor in the kitchen, nor in the dining room

Tzeentch was a little surprised to see inside what he thought was the empty guest room to find his friend Draco Malfoy, somewhat annoyed to be awakened but pleased with his return from Iceland

He was the one who told him Hermione was in Potter's room

" _Probably sleeping in the same bed with Saint Potter"_

It was the exact and sullen words that Draco had muttered before he left the room to keep looking for her and when he entered to Potter's room, he soon verified the authenticity in Draco's words.

His mistress, the only reason he was still alive, the most important person in his life, whom he swore to care for no matter what, no matter what he could lose by protecting her, she was in a man's room at high hours of the night, sleeping in the same bed as him, said man was hugging her, his body pressed to her back as his arm wrapped around her waist possessively and his face buried protectively in Hermione's neck

 _His Móðolfr_

But she seemed relaxed, the closeness of him seemed to reassure her, something Tzeentch had never seen before, she always seemed so alert, always on the lookout for any danger around her even when she was sleeping

So he wouldn't do anything, if that British wizard could give such peace and safety to his mistress, he would allow him to be close to her, even if he hated Potter as he had never hated anyone else before him, even if he would still hate him despite the feelings Hermione might have for Harry Potter

Because Tzeentch still believed Harry Potter didn't deserve his mistress, he would never deserve her

But, what could he do when his mistress was so stubborn when it came to Potter?

Despite the possible love flowering of the two of them, there were still another more serious problem that he and his mistress had to take responsibility

One had become a constant dilatation that had a deadline to let go of the impending catastrophe

His eyes fell to the object in his hands, his trip to Iceland had been very rewarding, at least to fulfil the purpose

However, the price Hermione would have to pay for this _gift_ from the creature he had begged to help her could be imbalanced, the price to pay would perhaps be too high for her

Tzeentch wasn't sure it would be worth it just to immobilize an Obscurus. But they didn't have any other solution thought and the time they had was coming to the end

Tzeentch looked again at Harry Potter, a crazy thought came to his mind, one that his mistress probably would not approve but he would do if it meant that his mistress was unharmed

So maybe she didn't have to pay anything in her own account but maybe…. How much would Potter be willing to give for Hermione?

.

.

 **Thanks all of you**

 **-Raitsuki141-**

 **I'm tempted to leave you a Sneak Peek** **of the next chapter, maybe the title.**

 _Moonlight shines on your core, eyes glow at witnessing your endless tracks that can highlight time itself, I can feel your burning trace flooding on my silent yearning, breaking the inhibition on your sand and the silent light inside two crystal bulbs, the turns given on your crown will provide us, horologium arbitrium._

 _Horologium Arbitrium_

 **Chapter 8: Horologium Arbitrium**


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